Events to celebrate the historic and fun 800-year-old tradition of Witney Feast start this weekend.
The annual festival and fair, which celebrates the rededication of St Mary’s Church, is traditionally held on the two days following the first Sunday of September - the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin.
Events this year start with the Oktoberfest Beer Festival hosted inside St Mary's from noon to 7pm on Saturday.
Visitors can sup a range of beers and lagers soaked up with German style sausages to the accompaniment of an Oompah Band.
All funds raised by this family friendly event will go to charity.
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On Sunday a Civic Service will take place in St Mary's at 6pm to mark the 880th anniversary of the re-dedication of the new church.
At the service a new altar made from wood which has come from a Cedar of Lebanon tree that grew in the churchyard for hundreds of years will be consecrated.
The bishop of Dorchester The Rt Revd Gavin Collins will bless the Mayor Cllr Owen Collins and the town council.
Following the service the congregation will process on to the fairground on the Leys for the traditional blessing at the Golden Gallopers carousel on the Leys at 7.15pm.
Hymns will be played on the fairground organ while the service will be held alongside the golden horses and cockerels.
On Monday there will be a Table Top Sale in the church from 3.30pm to 7pm offering second-hand goodies, crafts and clothes.
Meanwhile one of the country's largest fun fairs will get under way on the Leys with a mix of traditional rides such as the Waltzer but also the Star Flyer, Space, Superstar, Extreme, Jumping Frogs, Dominator and Stargate.
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The first Witney Feast dates back to 1243 when King Henry III granted two deer from the Royal Forest of Wychwood to help celebrate the rededication of the church now known as St Mary's on the Green.
Records from the 1640s report the feast as having “dancing, singing and much drinking” and by the 1790s there was a fair selling livestock and merchandise.
In the 19th century there were horse races on Curbridge Down and, by the 1870s, there was a large pleasure fair and people were shipped in on special trains.
In 1902 legendary cricketer WG Grace attended the feast.
In 1904, according to the Witney Gazette festivities moved from Church Green to The Leys to accommodate more festivities.
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