The Ballyclare May Festival is a local custom dating back to 1756. Once a fertility festival, it is still the occasion for young girls to dress up in their finest and dance around the May Pole to traditional Irish music.

The famous horse fair fills up Ballyclare with horses of every shape and size and is the highlight of the week. The finest breeds from the surrounding area are brought to the show, and most are for sale. Get your eye in and you may come home with a thoroughbred bargain!

At first the fairs were markets for animals and goods but as they grew to four in a year it was the May and November fairs which became the most important as it was there that the farmers hired their labouring men and servant girls for the next six months.

The May Fair was traditionally held on a Tuesday in late May but in the nineteenth century such was the demand for horses that the Monday was given over to the trade. One dealer alone brought a hundred horses each year while others came into Ballyclare riding bareback and leading a string of horses. Representatives of cavalry regiments from all over Europe came to buy as the reputation of the fair spread.

Local farmers also needed horses to plough and transport their produce while the nearly city of Belfast sought carriage horses and sturdy animals to pull carts. Any of the bakeries alone would need a hundred animals. The great days of the horse fair ended with the First World War and growing mechanisation.

However in recent years the Main Street again echoes with the sound of horse being exercised and dealers shouting. This is not just a colourful revival of part of the town's cultural heritage but a real market where bidding is keen. It is now the centerpiece of the week of festivities which is the May Fair Festival. Today's sales are for leisure purposes but in many ways the sights and sounds are those of a past century

Source:http://www.thenorthernirelandguide.co.uk
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