The Croydon Walnut Fair Reimagined with Toys!
Exhibition open every Saturday 5 October to 9 November 2024. 11-4pm. Free
Unit 49 Whitgift Centre Croydon, (map)
The wonderful Walnut Fair returns to Croydon this autumn for the first time in over 150 years, reimagined with toys!
Held for hundreds of years on the nearby Fair Fields (now the site of the Fairfield Halls), visitors flocked to see travelling theatres and shows, to shop, to dance, to meet the parades of animals, and have a jolly good time. Pollock’s Toy Museum is bringing the fair back with an exhibition and celebration of the fair and it’s fun for all the family!
Engaging Entertainments!
- Wonder at Wombwell’s Menagerie of toy animals, tame and wild!
- Marvel at mechanical music for just one Victorian penny!
- Try your hand at Bagatelle!
- Gasp as Teddy Bear Acrobats ride reckless rocking horses!
- Peer into period peepshows!
- Discover gilded gingerbread!
- See Mr Green’s stunning lifelike waxwork dolls!
- Have your fortune told by a fish!
- Be AMAZED at a genuine 4000 year old mouse!
- Learned Spelling Pigs!
- The World in walnut shells!
- Hear stories from Croydon Fair!
- Buy souvenir fairings from Pollock’s Toy Stall!
Nut Allergy Warning
The Walnut Fair exhibition (5 October – 9 November) includes items made of walnuts. Workshops may include touching walnut shells. Visiting the museum during this time may not be suitable for anyone with a nut allergy.
This exhibition has been made possible with research from Croydon Natural History & Scientific Society and the support of Croydon Council.