Mixed weather reduces numbers at this year's Appleby Horse Fair

Appleby Horse Fair saw a drop in the number of caravans and tents at this year’s Fair, in comparison to 2025, likely because of the mixed weather over the main days of the Fair.

This year’s Fair saw a total of 1,167 bowtops, caravans and tents recorded, which was 140 less than last year’s number of 1,307 and 227 less than the record high of 1,394, when recording began in 2010.

The 2026 figures saw an increase in the number of traditional bowtops with 106 counted against last year’s total of 95. There were 1,036 caravans, down from 1,152 in 2025 and 25 tents.

There was small increase in the number of stalls on the market fields at the 2026 Fair. Overall stall numbers were at 239, up 8 on 2025’s figure of 231 and well below the 2016 record high of 276.

Chair of the Appleby Horse Fair Multi-Agency Strategic Coordinating Group (MASCG) and Westmorland and Furness Council’s Senior Manager for Communities, Claire Notman, said: “I’d like to thank all the agencies, and everyone involved in the response to the Fair, for their hard work and dedication in ensuring this year’s event was as safe as possible.

“We’re now well into the final phase of this year’s Fair and our cleaning teams are out in force in Appleby, Kirkby Stephen and outlying areas, picking up litter and sweeping the streets in the final, post-Fair, clean up.

“We hope to have this work completed by the end of the week, but if any local residents are still experiencing Fair related issues, they can report them online using the Community Feedback Form at https://forms.office.com/e/PftXw5kMSd.”

People will have a further opportunity to provide feedback on the 2026 Fair at the Post-Fair Drop-In event, hosted by representatives from the MASCG, which will be held at Appleby Public Hall on Wednesday 17 June, between 5pm and 8pm.

The Traffic Management Plan, enforced by Highways officers, implemented temporary speed limits, road closures and one-way restrictions to maintain traffic flow throughout Appleby and minimise the risk to pedestrians.

Laura McClellan, Traffic Management (Eden) & TTRO Team Leader for Westmorland and Furness Council, said: “In advance of Appleby Fair, we made a commitment to the local community to take firm and proactive enforcement action, particularly in relation to early arrivals and vehicles parking in contravention of no waiting restrictions.

“From the week commencing 25 May, patrols in the area were increased.  During this period, officers focused on engagement with both the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) community and the settled community, providing advice on where it was safe and appropriate to park, and explaining the reasons for the restrictions. 

“This approach resulted in positive engagement with motorists, alongside targeted enforcement, with a total of 25 Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) issued.

“The programme of education and engagement continued into the week commencing 1 June, particularly in areas where new restrictions had been introduced.  As a result, we observed improved compliance and a positive response, with enforcement carried out where necessary.  A total of 85 PCNs were issued during this period.

“Overall, this balanced approach of engagement and enforcement helped to manage parking effectively while minimising disruption to the local community.

“Our Highways team are working hard to ensure all temporary measures, including signage and posts, are removed as quickly as possible. We appreciate the community’s patience and understanding whilst this work is completed.”

The number of arrests at the Fair also fell this year, with police arresting 69 people at the fair, compared to 80 in 2025, 74 in 2024, 42 in 2023 and 18 in 2022.

There were no incidents of significant disorder or violence at the fair, Cumbria police said.

The Appleby Horse Fair policing operation as a whole – which begins in the weeks leading to the fair – brought the total provisional arrest figure to 83 arrests (compared to 123 arrests in 2025).

Police made a number of seizures of items during the Fair which saw counterfeit items and air weapons seized, dangerous pyramid rings and nitrous oxide.

Officers also issued more than 292 tickets, whilst 85 vehicles were seized including for being suspected of being stolen, being suspected of having been used in a crime, causing an obstruction and driving without insurance.

This year’s Fair was also the first in which Live Facial Recognition vans were deployed. On Friday, the LFR vans picked out a man who had been arrested earlier in the Fair and bailed with conditions preventing him returning to

Appleby. After his arrest, his face was added to the watchlist, and the cameras spotted him back at the Fair. He was subsequently arrested.

Detective Superintendent Dan St Quintin, Police Gold Commander for Appleby Horse Fair said: “The drop in the number of arrests this year is largely as a result of a significant reduction in the number of drug driving offences.

“Our officers have run the same roads operation targeting such behaviour, and have conducted a similar number of roadside tests, but the number of people failing those tests is down considerably. This is welcome and hopefully a sign that the message is hitting home.

“The first deployment of Live Facial Recognition vans at this event has been a success.

“Whilst there have been suggestions its use is unfairly targeting the Gypsy and Traveller community, the majority of the people on the LFR watchlist were actually Cumbrian people, such as locally wanted individuals.

“The technology helped us to keep people safe at the event by identifying people of interest – including two Cumbria registered sex offenders who had attended the event – whilst, anecdotally, we have been told it has put off people who are wanted for serious offences elsewhere in the country from travelling here for the event.”

A total of 11 fixed penalties were issued for breaches of Public Space Protection Orders (PSPO’s), which are designed to protect designated areas from antisocial behaviour.

Trading Standards officers, in joint operations with Cumbria Police, also successfully seized a range of unsafe counterfeit goods, including air guns, bb pellets, vapes, and children’s toys, either in-transit, or on sale at the Fair.

The RSPCA recorded 566 interactions at the Fair, issued 20 warnings and has 10 on-going investigations. Fourteen horses were brought into the charity’s care, four of which were returned to owners. Sixteen other animals were brought into RSPCA care, including a kitten, two stray dogs, seven wild caught birds, two wild rabbits and four injured wild ill or injured wild birds.

RSPCA Chief Inspector Lyndsey Taylor said: “It’s been a busy Fair for us with the main animal welfare issues being tack and equipment, animals needing veterinary care, injuries and overworking.

“Sadly, we haven’t received any useful information from our appeal after a horse died in suspicious circumstances on Saturday, and what we believe was a trader’s mark was altered, possibly to disguise it. Anyone who can help us with this investigation should call the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999 and quote incident number 01822356.

“One of the horses involved in a collision on Friday, causing us to advise people not to tie animals to vehicles, has been signed over to us and is doing well in our care. There’s no news regarding the other two horses involved.

“There were some amazing examples of healthy, happy horses and good horsemanship at the Fair, please head to the Best at Appleby social media pages to see and celebrate those with us, but the eight animal welfare charities who work together as part of the Appleby Horse Project are here because we need to be, monitoring, providing veterinary attention and advising on animal care.”

One of the most visible incidents of the Fair was the joint operation to rescue a horse that had got loose and become stuck in the river on Saturday afternoon.

A specialist water rescue team from Cumbria Fire and Rescue mobilised, alongside officers from the RSPCA, and together they were able to bring the horse under control and guide it safely up the riverbank, where it was then checked over by the RSPCA.

Station Manager Pete Kavanagh of Cumbria Fire and Rescue said: “Our team of specialists did an outstanding job, acting quickly and decisively to rescue the horse when it got into difficulty.

“Thanks to all our partners for their support during the incident and, of course, to the team.”
Gypsy and Travellers MASCG representative, Billy Welch, said, “The 2026 Fair has been very good for us. The weather has been kind and the number of caravans on Fair Hill was increased by 10% this year. That increase confirms that those people were not put off by the facial recognition cameras - we have nothing to hide.

“Numbers attending the fair were down overall, but that does not concern us. We want to protect the good name of the fair, and the cameras played a part in keeping it safe for everyone.

“We know that this year there have been a few cases where either travellers or police may have made mistakes with each other, and small incidents have been unnecessarily escalated by a few individual officers, Gypsies or Travellers, but that is almost inevitable in an event of this size.

“Those incidents should not have happened, but when we are aware of complaints we always raise them at our meetings with police. Gypsies and Travellers are not perfect and the police are not perfect, but we keep talking and there are seldom any problems that cannot be sorted out by common sense.

“We are already working with police who have agreed to deliver training to their officers to try to build understanding and knowledge around Gypsy and Traveller culture so we can improve trust in the future.”