A licence has been applied for to stage a funfair in Hawick in July

The Scottish Showmen’s Guild aims to set up a fair on part of the Common Haugh car park from Wednesday, July 14 to Sunday, July 18.

The final details of the entertainment planned have yet to be finalised, but the funfair – which has been coming to the town every year for decades – normally includes a ghost train, fun house, and children’s rides, including the waltzer.

A public entertainment licence application is being submitted to Scottish Borders Council this week, which is required in order for the event to get the go-ahead.

The fair, which is normally staged around the time of Hawick Common Riding, was last held in 2019 and always proves a big draw.

Alex James Colquhoun, chairman of the Scottish Showmen’s Guild, said: “It’s been a while since we have been able to visit Hawick and if everything goes to plan we’ll be back next month.

"I know there’s a lot going on at the Common Haugh so not all of the car park will be available and it will not be as big an affair as normal but we’re looking to get our members out and operating again and we’re trying to put a fair on in Hawick and then another in Carlisle, so it’s not too far for the members to travel.

"This will be the first the Showmen’s Guild will be running in Scotland this year and the first in the Borders, as far as I’m aware, since lockdown restrictions were lifted.

"Hopefully we’ll get the public entertainment licence. It’s a site we have used in the past, although obviously there will be a few things that will have to change this year for Covid-restrictions but we are fully aware of that.

"It’s all about getting some normality back and visit the places we would normally visit, especially Hawick. My mum was born in Hawick and there’s a little bit of a personal thing for me. The Hawick fair has been running for, I think, over one hundred years, obviously it was cancelled last year. We normally come for the two weeks of the Common Riding, that’s been the tradition.

"The people of Hawick have always been close to my heart and always welcomed the showmen, so I made the application and hopefully everything is going well and we can have a successful funfair.”