Thame September Fair 2026: High Street shut for 4 days

Thame’s September Street Fair returns to the High Street from Thursday 17 to Saturday 19 September 2026. The closure around it is longer than the fair itself, and that is the part worth planning for.

Oxfordshire County Council proposes to make a special event order on 7 September shutting the town centre from 4pm on Wednesday 16 September until midday on Sunday 20 September. Both High Street car parks close on the Wednesday afternoon, before the first ride opens.

Thame has held markets since it was granted a market charter in 1215, and the town council still runs a Tuesday market in the Upper High Street car park. That car park is one of the two that shuts for the fair.

Fair opening hours

The town council gives these times:

• Thursday 17 September: 3.30pm to 11pm
• Friday 18 September: noon to 11pm
• Saturday 19 September: noon to 11pm

What closes, and when

Driving is banned from 4pm on Wednesday 16 September to midday on Sunday 20 September in:

• Buttermarket, from North Street to High Street
• Cornmarket, from High Street to North Street and Upper High Street
• High Street, from Bell Lane to Cornmarket, including the minor carriageway beside the Town Hall
• Upper High Street, from Cornmarket and North Street to East Street

North Street has its own rule. From 7am on the Wednesday to midday on the Sunday there is no driving or waiting there except for taxis, which keep their ranks and can wait between 9am and 11pm.

Waiting is banned on both sides of Cornmarket, High Street and Upper High Street from 4pm on the Wednesday, and on both sides of Southern Road and Wellington Street from 7am. The council’s signed alternative route for through traffic is Bell Lane, North Street, Wellington Street and East Street.

Where to park instead

Southern Road (behind the former Co-op) and Cattle Market on North Street stay open as normal. They are not equivalent. Cattle Market has 138 spaces, a 23-hour maximum stay and a ten-hour ticket at £6.30, so it is the only all-day option in the town while the fair is on. Southern Road has 49 spaces and stops at three hours, at £3.50. In both, the first hour is free if you take a ticket.

The town council is opening extra parking at Southern Road Recreation Ground, from noon on the Thursday and from 8am to 11.30am on the Friday and Saturday. Limited disabled parking will be at North Street, and the taxi rank moves there from the High Street.

Residents and businesses with off-street parking inside the closure can get an access permit from the Information Centre at the Town Hall, on 01844 212 833.

Every town centre bus stop moves

All bus stops on Upper High Street, High Street and North Street close for the duration. Thame Town Council gives the nearest alternatives:

• X20 to Oxford: The Thatch on Lower High Street, or Cricket Club on Aylesbury Road
• 400 to Oxford: The Thatch on Lower High Street
• X20 to Aylesbury: Thame Museum on Lower High Street
• 121 Haddenham and Thame circular: misses every stop on East Street, Upper High Street, High Street and North Street
• 40 to High Wycombe: misses every stop on Upper High Street, High Street and North Street

The nearest station is Haddenham and Thame Parkway, which is not in the closure.

The October Charter Fair has its own restrictions

The Charter Fair follows on Friday 9 and Saturday 10 October. It is a smaller footprint. The order prohibits waiting in the Upper High Street car park, and in the minor carriageway on its northeast side, from 9pm on Wednesday 7 October until noon on Sunday 11 October. There is no High Street driving ban in the October order.

What it means for you

If you shop in Thame on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday in fair week, the two High Street car parks are gone from Wednesday lunchtime. Southern Road and Cattle Market are the ones to aim for, and the recreation ground opens as an overflow.

If you live or run a business inside the closure, get the access permit from the Information Centre before the Wednesday rather than on the day.

If you catch a bus in the town centre, do not go to your usual stop. Lower High Street is where most of the services can still be reached.

If you are coming for the fair, the town council’s own advice is to leave the car at home, and the bus stop list above is the reason it works.

One caveat on the legal side. The county council proposes to make the special event order on 7 September. The dates above are published on Oxfordshire County Council’s own event orders page and on Thame Town Council’s, so they are not in serious doubt, but the order itself is not made until then.

What else is closing across the district is on our Henley roadworks and travel page, and there is more to do locally on things to do in Henley.

Sources

• Thame Fair 16-20 September and 7-11 October, Oxfordshire County Council for the special event order, the closure and car park times, the alternative route and the taxi and disabled access exemptions.
• Legal Notice, Thame Fairs 2026, Oxfordshire County Council, published by Thame Town Council, for the full schedules of roads, the North Street taxi provision and the October restrictions. Reference S26-026.
• September Street Fair, Thame Town Council for the fair dates, the opening hours, the resident permits, the parking arrangements and the Information Centre contact.
• September Street Fair public transport, Thame Town Council for the closed bus stops and the alternatives by route.
• Festivals and events, Thame Town Council for the Charter Fair dates, and A market town for the 1215 market charter and the Tuesday market.
• South Oxfordshire District Council car parks in Thame for the Southern Road and Cattle Market tariffs.

Event orders can be amended. Check Thame Town Council and Oxfordshire County Council before you travel.