The Auld Lammas Fair is Ireland’s oldest fair, held in Ballycastle, County Antrim at the end of August every year. In 2018, it will run for 3 days on Sunday 26th (Artisan Fair), and Monday 27th August and Tuesday 28th August (Trading and Artisan Fair). Read more here.

The fair is famous for dulse and yellow man, commemorated in the song called “The Old Lammas Fair”, played below by John Watt, or sung below by Ruby Murray.

What’s Lammas?

Lammas is the time of harvest celebrations. It is celebrated at different times in different places but is always a harvest type festival.

What’s dulse?

Dulse is seaweed, dried and sold in small bags for eating as a snack. It’s very healthy, with vitamins and minerals. While most people now eat it just as a snack, like you might do with a bag of crisps, dulse is actually a nutritious vegetable and can be used in soups and chowders. Many greengrocers sell dulse, so you don’t have to wait for the Lammas Fair to try it. You can also buy it online, try your favorite online store.

What’s yellowman?

Yellowman is a sweet to end all sweets. It’s rather like honeycomb, brittle and very sweet, made with golden syrup and sugar and puffed up with bicarbonate of soda and vinegar. You can find a recipe for yellowman here.

Auld Lammas Fair – A video showing scenes from the fair itself and the famous music played probably on a mandolin.

Ruby Murray singing the famous song

If you want to go to Ballycastle, there is a Google Map below showing its location.