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Writer's pictureLucas Wintercrane

Dingles Heritage Fairground - a fantastic family day out in Devon and... A great night out!


Another Half-term gone by and its my third year in a row for Halloween at Dingles. My three year anniversary since I debuted at this wonderful place and sat on the throne as the self proclaimed Pumpking.


In the time i've been here, I think together we can all say we've gone from strength to strength. Visitor numbers are continuing to exceed expectations as every event goes by. The word is spreading about this unique day out that is right on your doorstep without you knowing it. But the management are not resting on their laurels. They have recognised the added value in putting on even more entertainment beyond the fantastic vintage rides that I have described in an earlier post.

In the afternoons, they convert into a cheeky gargoyle who is a devil for sneaking up on you. Keep hold of your donuts, he's a sugar fiend but every so friendly and very popular with the grandma's. Abi works tirelessly transforming the hideous children into lovely face paint creations. Typo! transforming lovely children into hideous halloween creations. They also supply extra characters to help the ghost train and side stalls run seamlessly and with maximum theatrical value.

My role at Dingles is to provide mini impromptu shows and circus demos, it's very noisy so its not easy to have a show environment, rather I hope to engage one or two children and then run through my roster of skills which usually results in a few families enjoying some circus for a few minutes or sometimes hours! I also do plenty of roaming circus entertainment taking children for rides on my circus bike and Ninebot One. As well as polishing my cyr wheel skills which I'm still an absolute beginner in.


I think this was my favourite Dingles week so far. A familiarity with a good number of families that have enjoyed some of my tricks over the last couple of years sometimes seeing me every time I'm there so you do end up having a special bond with them. I just have to hope their memories aren't too hot so I can still get away with performing the same routines ; ) Some fans took it to the next level this week. Imagine my surprise when these two lovely girls turned up with Lucas Jet glitter tattoos on their face. Rumour has it there are some planning applications in for extensions to Dingles but I hope its to widen the doors so my big head can fit through them : )



Spooktacular - A strong alternative to your average halloween night out.

I remember in my student days, Halloween always had a lot of excitement around it but often the night would be a bit of a let down. Devon is also hardly renowned for its bustling nightlife. But if you are prepared to travel, you keep your ear to the ground and your willing to give it a go, there are some amazing times to be had. Dingles can mostly certainly count themselves as one of them now. It seems the Higher Beings folks had a lot of input into organising lots of fantastic performers and to help co-ordinate it all and make sure we were all dancing.

They really did go in 100% on their efforts for this debut event. A fantastic band from the festival circuit called Johny Kowalski and the sexy weirdo's provided some great knees up tunes. Whilst visitors were treated to an onslaught of entertainers from all the far corners of the South West.

Naomi.Apologies if I miss anyone out but you had. Dixie Daggers and Harley Queen were providing some burlesque action to hot up your halloween hearts on a cold autumn evening. Up high on the aerial hoop giving the fairground an authentic circus feel was Chani! and there was also some fantastic fire spinning and great charisma to get people dancing from Naomi

On top of this you had a bar, burgers and all the usual rides. It was great fun and with continued enthusiasm from locals and regulars I think Dingles could be on to a real winner here. Keep your eyes on the Facebook page for future evening events.

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