Nottingham Goose Fair 2024: Food and drink prices - what you can expect this year
The aroma of fried onions and doughnuts is in the air which can only mean one thing... Nottingham's Goose Fair is back. The next 10 days will be filled with fun, thrills and food at the Forest Recreation Ground if you manage to get there due to the tram strike.
While adrenaline junkies are hurtled at high speeds into the sky on white knuckle rides, there's some people who visit the annual event just for the traditional funfair flavours.
As well as the nostalgic favourites that make the fair unique - we're talking about mushy peas with mint sauce and the famous cock-on-a-stick - there's also a wider range of different cuisines to keep everyone fuelled. Most of the food trucks and stalls can be found at the top end of the park but there are a plenty dotted all round the ground.
Food lovers can eat their way around the world. As well as the classic fairground fare of burgers and chips, you will find duck wraps, Mexican street food such as nachos and burritos, Jamaican dumplings, pizza, Greek gyros, German sausages, salt and chilli chicken, carvery cobs, Afghan wraps and katsu chicken curry - and that's just some of it.
Sweet-toothed fair-goers won't be disappointed with a vast array of sugary treats to keep you pumped even if you don't step on a rollercoaster. The hardest part is deciding between waffles, doughnuts, crepes, churros, ice cream, brandy snaps, candy floss and fudge.
Here's our whistle-stop guide with just a taster of what's on offer - and, importantly, how much you can expect to pay this year. The fair runs until Sunday, October 9.
Mushy peas
A Goose Fair institution, a pot of mushy peas with a spoonful of vinegary mint sauce is the perfect comfort food for an autumnal day. There's many outlets selling this Nottingham delicacy but the Traditional Mushy Pea Stall is the original and the best.
Here the peas are not warmed up out of a tin but cooked the traditional way over hot coals. After being soaked for 24 hours they're cooked in big metal pots behind the stall until being mushed to perfection.
Alf Burdett and his friend Walter Pike started the stall in 1946 and later Alf's son Terry took over the mantle, continuing to use the authentic method. William Warwick took over the ownership from fair legend Terry last year but the 78-year-old is back again this year to help out because he enjoys the atmosphere and seeing familiar faces. A pot of peas costs £3, the same price as the last two years.
Cock-on-stick
Goose Fair is the only place on earth you'll find the cheeky confectionary. An institution here in Nottingham, newcomers to the city are always taken aback when they first hear the name.
The 152-year-old tradition is alive and well thanks to Welshman Tom Smith, who took over the business from 95-year-old Ray Brooks last year. Ray used to make the cockerel-shaped lollipops in the garage of his Nottingham home but now production takes place at a factory in North Wales
The cocks are sold in the usual spot and Tom, whose family has brought rides to the Nottingham fair since 1850, also has a 60ft stall further along selling all the traditional fairground favourites such as brandy snaps, Grantham Biscuits and toffee apples. The 34-year-old said: "It was good last year. It was as Ray predicted, he was pretty much on the button with what I would sell.
"I've only done it once before [making the cocks] and to get into it again was daunting," said Tom, but as soon as he started, the technique soon came back to him. "I've got my way of doing it which is a different way to how Ray used to do his but ultimately we've got the same product. All we need now is the weather and the people and will be happy."
The tradition was first started by Ray's grandfather Ben Whitehead in 1872. The secret recipe was passed down to Ray, who took over the stall when he came out of the RAF in 1950 and he became a real draw at the fair.
The cocks come in small, medium, large and extra large, with prices starting at £3.
Sweet treats
Doughnuts are a must at the fairground and you're more likely to smell them before you see them. Follow your nose to any of the stalls dotted across the site.
At Sarah and Renny Mulhearn's family stall, which backs onto Gregory Boulevard, you can buy a bag of four hot sugary doughnuts for £4 - or add Nutella for an extra pound. Lollipops in all shapes and sizes - with one resembling a slice of watermelon - cost £2.50.
Giant cables in flavours including bubble gum and strawberry, are £1.50 each or five for £6. The stall is also home to the old-fashioned treats, packets of brandy snaps and Grantham biscuits, which both sell for £3. Sarah, who dons a chequered red and white apron and a straw boater to serve customers, said: "We don't sell as many of them as we used to do in Nottingham but we do at Ilkeston and Loughborough.
"I think what it is with Nottingham now there's a lot more students and they don't know what they are. Trying to describe a Grantham biscuit to someone who hasn't had one is impossible. My family, going back to my great grandma, has occupied this site and has always sold Grantham biscuits and I still don't know what they are.
"They look like a Farley's Rusk. They're lovely. They're gingery, you dunk them in and it soaks all your drink up. I like them when you leave them open so they're a day old and they go chewy."
Greek gyros
Not typical Nottingham grub, however Greek gyros have become a regular feature at the fair in recent years due to their popularity with hungry visitors, looking for something different to the usual burgers and hotdogs.
The wraps, filled with either chicken, pork, doner meat or halloumi, salad and fries cost £10 each and halloumi fries will set you back £6.
Brogan Beck, who works at the Go Greek stall, said: "We normally work down at Cheshire Oaks so it's nice coming here for a different atmosphere. It's nice and busy for us. I've been here four years now. I like all the rides and it's nice for everyone to socialise. It's a nice family event. There's lots of different varieties of food."
Burgers and hot dogs
After being flung around, tipped upside down and hurtled into the sky you might need some sustenance to settle your stomach. There's no shortage of sizzling burger and hot dog stalls dotted around the site.
Look out for one of the biggest stands, called the Sausage Joint, with a choice of British pork, Lincolnshire and Cumberland bangers, all £6. Or go continental with German bratwurst, smoked and cheesy smoked sausages for £8.
Further down the same stall is the Burger Joint. Choose from a quarter pounder for £6 or a double quarter pounder at £10, both with or without cheese. Or how about a roast pork and stuffing cob for £7? Add cheese, bacon or coleslaw for £1 each.
Moose Bar
If you fancy a tipple to calm your nerves after all the thrills and spills of those white knuckle rides - or simply to take a break from the crowds to chill - the Moose Bar is the place to be. The wooden chalet, which takes its name from the giant moose head dominating the frontage, has cosy booths with gingham curtained 'windows' overlooking snow-capped mountains and cattle.
A pint of Peroni, Birra Moretti or Neck Oil will set you back £7.50. Bottles of Corona are £6.50. A 175ml glass of wine is £8.50 but if you really want to splash out a bottle of Laurent-Perrier champagne is £80 - of a glass of house fizz is a tenner. Spirits are £7 with a mixer. Soft drinks such as coke and lemonade are £5 a pint.
Afghan street food
Making its debut at Goose Fair, after a stint outside Victoria Centre, is Wahad's shiny Afghan street food van. Wraps filled with deliciously spiced meat are a speciality.
Balkh slow-braised beef in an Afghan spiced gravy is £10.95. Noshaq chicken thighs, marinated for 24 hours in a creamy sauce and charcoal-grilled for extra flavour, are £9.95, while Mantu-inspired lamb is £10.95.
A vegan version of a street food classic is sarak kidney beans. The creamy beans and tomato fusion with a nutty twist from handmade cashew sauce is £9.50