Origins of The Fair
Queen Etheldreda having been given Ely as part of her dowery eventually renounced the world and gave her life to the worship of God by founding a Monastery at Ely and becoming it’s first Abbess.
Her death in late June in the year of our Lord 879 was commemorated by holding a Fair, St Etheldreda’s Fair, which became commonly known as St Audrey’s Fair, and introduced a new word into the English Language, “tawdry”, meaning a small gift or present.
The Fair was revived in 1987 and again in 1997 by The Isle of Ely Lions Club. Both were so successful it was again staged in 2000.