Cheam Charter Fair 2025 will take place on Saturday 17th May 9am -2pm based in Park Road Cheam.
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For the latest information and updates on this year’s fair, see our Facebook Page
Residents of Cheam will celebrate the 766th annual Cheam Charter Fair on Saturday 17th May 2025.
The fair is thought to date back to 1259 when Henry III granted Cheam a charter making it a town. Firm historical records of Cheam Charter Fair date back to the 1800s when a fairground accompanied the market.
The fair is steeped in custom, with traders traditionally marking out their stalls with chalk in advance of the fair. Stall bookings are taken from the beginning of February to around the end of April from organisations or individuals based in Sutton or adjoining boroughs. See the Stalls page of this site for details.
It is now traditional for the fair to start at 09:00 with our unique opening procession. It is led by The Mayor of Sutton together with the choir of St Dunstan’s Church and children from St Dunstan’s School. The Mayor often attends in the rarely seen red robes of office and the ceremonial badge and chain.
Cheam Charter Week
Events include the celebration of the traditional Fair day of 15 May in line with the terms of the charter. This could be a charity cake sale, games of hopscotch (as played during the Covid pandemic), shove-ha’penny amongst other activities.
Some local organisations get into the fair atmosphere and offer and provide special offers on the day of the fair or throughout the week. Details are shown on the Facebook page.
If you are part of a local organisation that would like to organise an event to celebrate the Charter, please contact us via cheamcharterfair@gmail.com.
About us
Since 2012 the fair has been facilitated by a steering group formed of members of the Cheam community and representatives of key organisations in Cheam. The group meets as necessary to make sure the fair continues and operates within current legal requirements. The group also created Cheam Charter Week to encourage and help Cheam organisations to engage with their local community.
If you would like to get involved with this friendly group please email cheamcharterfair@gmail.com.
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