Buckham Fair 2026

Buckham Fair was created in 2008 by Martin Clunes and his wife, Philippa Braithwaite, near their home in Dorset.

The idea was simple: to bring back the atmosphere of a traditional English country fair, with dogs, horses, shows, local food and activities for all the family, while raising money for charities and good causes.

Over the years, Buckham Fair became a much-loved event and raised more than £600,000. After its last edition in 2018 and a long break, the Fair finally returned in 2026, this time in support of Dorset County Hospital, raising an incredible £138,000.

MY BUCKHAM FAIR

For me, being there had a very special meaning.

I had known about Buckham Fair for years through photographs and stories, and the idea of going there one day had always been a little dream of mine. When I heard at the end of 2025 that the Fair might finally return, I decided that this time I didn't want to simply watch it from afar.

I travelled to Dorset as a volunteer and personal sponsor, with my camera, the prototype of my Martin Clunes: A Career Through Art book, and plenty of curiosity.

For three days, I had the chance to experience Buckham Fair from behind the scenes too: preparing the grounds with the other volunteers, finally meeting people I had been talking to for months, enjoying the Fair itself, and then coming back the following day to help take everything down.

And of course, I took photographs.

Martin, the guests, the dogs, the atmosphere of the Fair and, above all, the horses — definitely far too many horses, as you might expect.

I wasn't trying to create a complete photographic report of the event. I was much more interested in those little moments that happen while everyone is busy doing something else: an expression, a gesture, an encounter, something that lasts only a few seconds but that a photograph can hold onto.

Among those moments was a very special one for the Martin Clunes Art Project. After years of creating this digital project from Italy, I was finally able to give Martin the book I had made for him and see the project in the hands of the person who, without even knowing it, had inspired it in the first place.

This gallery brings together a small selection of the photographs I brought home from Dorset.

The rest are memories, new friends, and the feeling that, for three days, I had been a small part of something truly special.