Bankside Frost Fair

From Friday 15-Sunday17 December this week Southwark Council is organizing the Bankside Frost Fair , now in its fourth year and taking place on the south bank in the area in front of the Tate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.

This is a free event featuring parades, music events, shopping, food stalls and various workshops open to adults and kids to try their hand at new skills. The Frost Fair tries to capture the spirit of the original ones that were held on the ice when the River Thames used to freeze over in winter.

The last time the Thames did freeze was 1814 when a Frost Fair on the ice lasted four days and an elephant was led across the ice near Blackfriars Bridge. In the previous 400 years prior to that it had frozen more than 20 times. A big reason it hasn’t happened since 1814 was the demolition of the stone London Bridge that had stood since 1176. This bridge had 19 narrow arches and acted to slow down the flow of the river allowing it to freeze more easily. Add to this work on the river embankments and the climate in Britain getting milder and a frozen Thames is something you’ll probably only see on Christmas cards today.

The Thames used to be so frozen that Henry VIII once went down it from central London to Greenwich in a horse drawn sleigh. The first Frost Fair took place in 1683 when the river froze over in December and stayed that way for two months. Then and at later fair’s, stalls were set up between the two river banks selling food and souvenirs, ox’s and sheep were roasted, and fairground rides and sports including horse races were set up.

This year’s event has over 40 stalls selling food, drink, arts and crafts and Christmas gifts. There’s a varied programme of music events on each day along with ice sculptures, street entertainers and a husky dog sledding team for kids under 12 to try getting pulled by.
The winter market stalls open at 12pm on 15 December but the Frost Fair doesn’t officially open until 4pm when there’s a Twelve Days of Christmas lantern parade from Southwark Cathedral (near to London Bridge) to Bankside. On Saturday 16 December at 12pm there’s a procession on the river of traditional Thames Cutters from the north bank to the south carrying the Frost Fair flag.

The chances of snow, the river freezing or even frost this week are slim and none, its grey and rainy in London right now but if you’re around the central London area at the weekend check out Frost Fair it normally draws thousands of people.