Eaglesham braves the rain for the fun of the fair

Thousands of people braved the gales and downpours for the biennial Eaglesham Fair and the first ever Eaglesham Beer Fest.

Thanking those who came along, fair organising committee chair Geoff Greenlaw joked: “The theme for this year’s fair has been All Things Scottish — and I can see the weather has decided to join in.”

It wasn’t enough to put off Eaglesham youngsters, with hundreds donning their costumes for the parade, before 1962 fair queen Jay Barr (nee Lorimer) crowned this year’s fair queen, Elissa Fearn.

Elissa was joined on stage by fair princess Anna McIlvaney and attendants Gabriel Carter and Jonah McNicol.

Eaglesham Primary were named for the best float of the day, with pupils dressed as Scottish inventors and their inventions.

Chairman Geoff thanked volunteers for making the day happen, and added: “It has taken the small committee of june nine people two years to plan this event. As a result, I can safely say this is the biggest and best fair yet. We look forward to welcoming everyone again in 2017.”

It seems that many revellers were happy to refuge in the beer tent nearby — despite initial worries for Beer Fest organiser Fraser Wilson.

Fraser told The Extra: “Early on it looked like it was going to be a damp squib. I was genuinely concenred we had made all this fuss, gotten all these great brewers and producers to put their faith in us, only for it to be washed out — and when the hailstones smacked the back of my legs, I wasn’t hopeful it would be anything but.

“But the vendors, festival team and the punters got right into the spirit of things and it was amazing — a mini Glastonbury.

“By the middle of the afternoon we were full to bursting and the wind and rain was forgotten about. I can’t thank the punters enough — they made the day and we can’t wait to start planning our next event.”