Covent Garden May Fayre

The 32nd Annual Covent Garden May Fayre and Puppet Festival takes place on Sunday 13 May in St. Paul’s Churchyard, opposite the Punch and Judy pub end of Covent Garden Market. The event marks the first time Samuel Pepys saw a Punch and Judy show in England, May 1662, and wrote about it in his diary.

The day begins at 10.30am with a Grand Procession led by a brass band, followed by a special church service at 11.30am in the church given by Rev Mark Oakley and Mr Punch, and from noon-5.30pm they’ll be dozens of Punch and Judy and puppet shows taking place in the grounds and all are free to attend. Among the groups taking part are the British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild, The College of Punch and Judy Professors, The Puppet Centre Tryst, The Union Internationale de la Marionette and the Punch and Judy Fellowship.

The main entrance to St Paul’s Church Garden is on Bedford Street just around the corner from Covent Garden Piazza.