The Great Dorset Steam Fair is an annual show featuring steam powered vehicles and machinery. The fair was founded by Michael Oliver, and has been held in Dorset, England, every summer since 1968, currently at Tarrant Hinton near Blandford Forum. It now covers 600 acres and runs for five days from the Wednesday after the UK August bank holiday. It is reputedly the largest outdoor show in the world. The most common exhibits are traction engines, tractors and farm machinery, but also included are preserved railway engines, cars and commercial vehicles, and shire horses. The show also has a market, autojumble, live music and funfair (some of which is powered by the steam engines). The show is now run by Michael's son, Martin Oliver through Great Dorset Steam Fair Ltd. // The term steam engine may also refer to an entire railroad steam locomotive. ... Dorset (pronounced DOR-sit or [dÉ”.sÉ™t], and sometimes in the past called Dorsetshire) is a county in the south-west of England, on the English Channel coast. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total 130... Tarrant Hinton is a village in north Dorset, England, situated in the Tarrant Valley five miles east of Blandford Forum. ... Blandford Forum, or Blandford is a market town on the River Stour in Dorset, England. ... It has been suggested that Steam tractor be merged into this article or section. ... A locomotive (from Latin loco motivus) is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train, and has no payload capacity of its own; its sole purpose is to move the train along the tracks. ... Shire draft horse The shire horse is a breed of draft horse. ... A travelling funfair has many attractions, including adult or thrill rides, childrens rides, and sideshows consisting of games of skill, strength, or luck. ...

The steam fair in 2004

A speciality of the show is the display of traction engines and steam rollers performing the work for which they were designed. Such displays include heavy haulage, threshing, sawing logs, ploughing and road-making. The main arena of the show is purposely sited on the slope of a hill to allow both steam- and internal combustion-powered machinery to demonstrate their capacity for heavy load hauling. One of the main displays is the "Showmans Line up", which is thought to be the largest collection of Showmans engines in the world. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 794 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (816 × 616 pixel, file size: 46 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) My digital photograph taken in 2004 I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 794 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (816 × 616 pixel, file size: 46 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) My digital photograph taken in 2004 I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Traction engine. ... Threshing is the process of beating cereal plants in order to separate the seeds or grains from the straw. ... The traditional way: a German farmer works the land with a horse and plough. ...

The End of the Fair is marked with a Thanksgiving Service on the Sunday, at 12 noon, and takes place on the Stage of Dean's Bioscope, the Silver Bell, organised for many years by Chris Edmonds, the Lay Chaplain until his recent death in 2007.

The fair is not to be confused with the Portland Steam Fair, a similar fair held at Southwell Park on the Isle of Portland every year. The Isle of Portland is a long by wide limestone island in the English Channel. ...

See also

• Steam Era

Steam Era is a festival held every Labour Day Weekend in the Town of Milton, Ontario featuring historic steam powered tractors. ...

External links

• Official site