Irbit Fair

The Irbit fair (Russian: Ирбитская ярмарка, irbitskaya yarmarka) was the second largest fair in Imperial Russia after the Makariev Fair. It was held annually in winter, trading with tea and fur brought along the Siberian trakt from Asia.

As Thomas Wallace Knox (1835–96) writes in his book Overland through Asia; Pictures of Siberian, Chinese, and Tatar Life (1870):

The fair dominated the town and shaped its architecture and layout. Long, narrow dormitories are a feature of the old town with enormous wharf areas being found at the juncture of the Nitsa and Irbit rivers. With the interruptions to the fair following the October Revolution and Russian Civil War and the effects of the Trans-Siberian Railway on trade, the fair ceased in 1929 and the town lost its importance as an agricultural and trade center.

There have been recent attempts to revive the fair in August as a regional trade show. Irbit is now home to the annual Irbit Bike Show which takes place the last weekend of July.

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Wikipedia