Travelling funfair

A travelling funfair, often simply called a fair, is a small to medium-sized travelling primarily composed of stalls and other amusements.

The British term "funfair" is also used to refer to non-travelling amusement parks. Larger fairs such as the permanent fairs of cities and seaside resorts might be called a fairground, although technically this refers to the land where a fair is traditionally held.

Fairs contain a mixture of attractions which can be divided into the categories of adult, teenager and child; usually including thrill rides, children's rides, sideshows, and side stalls. Originally, a fair would also have had a significant number of market stalls, but today this is rare and most sidestalls only offer food or games. The first fairground rides began to appear in the eighteenth century, these were small and made of wood and propelled by gangs of boys. In 1868, Frederick Savage, an agricultural engineer from King's Lynn, devised a method of driving rides by steam. His invention, a steam engine mounted in the center of the ride, transformed the fairground industry.

There is constant innovation, with new variations on ways to spin and throw passengers around, in an effort to attract customers. With the requirement that rides be packed into one or more trailers for travel, there is a limit to the size of the rides, and funfairs struggle to compete with much larger attractions, such as roller coasters, found in amusement parks. See also amusement rides.

Some fairs may feature compact roller coasters to attract teenagers and preteens. Roller coasters feature steep drops, sharp curves, and sometimes loops. Roller coasters are generally the most attractive aspect of a fair, but many people come for other reasons. Fairs usually only feature one or two coasters.

Funfairs are seen as family entertainment, and most include a significant number of children's rides. Many of these are smaller, platform based rides like, cup & saucer, toy sets, train rides then there are smaller slower versions of the adult rides, Ferris wheels, waltzers, even children's bumper cars. Such rides are usually referred to as "juvenile rides" or just juveniles. There are other items for children, slides, mirror mazes fun houses, and variations on the bouncy castle.

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