Hire an authentic vintage fairground for film or TV

All Carters Steam Fair rides and attractions are available to hire, availability permitting, for television and film, media, private events and functions. Our rides date from the 1890s to the 1960s and each one has been accurately restored to how it would have looked at the time. We can also supply a number of vintage lorries, living wagons and transport for that authentic classic English atmosphere.

From the Oscar-winning The Theory of Everything and Paddington 2 to The Krays and 28 Weeks Later, Carters Steam Fair and its people have featured in countless feature films and television dramas, including as a set for Endeavour and Call the Midwife, and has a highly professional and adaptable reputation.

Most of our rides are in use from April to November and we usually plan our season well in advance (up to a year beforehand) so make sure you can give us as much notice as possible. If you are interested in hiring a large ride, you will need good access and a level site to build up on.

Our ride hire fact sheet [PDF] has information about each of the rides including prices, logistics and set up time.

Organise your film or photo shoot on location

If you’d like a bright and vibrant backdrop for your product or model shoot then Carters Steam Fair has plenty to offer. Our beautiful artwork on the rides and sidestalls creates striking vintage backdrops for your shoot.

Fashion photographers, bands and artists use Carters Steam Fair as a backdrop to their work, which has appeared in many magazines and supplements, with diverse clients including the Kaiser Chiefs, Pantherella Socks and Chillout Horsewear.

Advertising producers choose the fair as a colourful and exciting location for television commercials. We featured in Midsummer Murders and this was filmed on site at Holyport Green so we can also film on site as well as shoot.

We can co-odinate a photo shoot with you when the fair is set up, but before it is open to the crowds. We’ll need plenty of advance notice so take a look at our tour dates here. 

Contact us at [email protected] for more information. 

Photography and video when the fair is open

Our fairground rides make an iconic backdrop for photographs and videos and one of the best times to shoot is when we are set up on location. As we are a busy visitor attraction with families and children enjoying themselves, we always ask for you to contact us to get permission for any filming or photography. This is to ensure that the enjoyment and privacy of our visitors is not compromised by camera equipment at the fair, to ensure you that you have the correct public liability insurance and also to safeguard our intellectual property.
Please email us at [email protected]

Students

If you are a student wanting to film or shoot at the fair and you intend to use the content as part of your coursework or dissertation then you will also need to contact us to gain written approval and we will need to see a letter from your course leader detailing the nature of your coursework and what content you would like to create at the fair.

Please email us at [email protected] 

Professional Photographers

If you are a professional photographer creating images for your own enjoyment or to share with your followers on social media, this is permitted, but the resale or profitting from images taken at the fair is not allowed and would be considered a breach of copyright unless you have written permission from the Carter family.

We do like to support creatives visiting the fair though and if you would like to be a part of our ‘fair in focus’ blog series where we showcase the work of photographers that have visited the fair, please get in touch at [email protected] 

Editors, Bloggers and Influencers

If you are a journalist, editor, influencer or blogger that would like to come to the fair and experience the rides or take photos and/or film please get in touch.

Contact [email protected] 

Hire an authentic fairground prop for your filming project

Documentary and editorial

Fairground art and traditional signwriting

In addition to providing a perfect authentic and period-correct setting for drama and feature films, Carters Steam Fair are experts in fairground history and the traditional art of signwriting. As a family they are passionate about restoring and maintaining the rides so that all generations can enjoy them. They are also keen to preserve an important part of British social history and heritage.

The fair features prominently in the observational documentary series Fairground Attractions, now available on Netflix.

Fairground owner Joby Carter is an artist and traditional sign writer and the rides at the fair have all been restored by hand using traditional sign writing techniques.

He was involved as a guest curator along side Sir Peter Blake for the fairground section of Museum of Everything and has given talks on signwriting and its place in folk art at universities and art schools, in addition to signwriting commissions for the Brit Awards and the English National Opera amongst others.

Joby Carter features in a short film by Adrian Harrison which was picked up by the BBC and is entitled 21st Century Victorian.

If you would like to feature Joby or the fair in editorial in press or a documentary for film, radio or television, please get in touch.

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