Crafts and amusements for Whanganui at Gypsy Fair

Jane Dowers dances with the Gypsy Sisters. Photo / Lewis Gardner

The combination of Kowhai Park and a grassy venue by the Whanganui River is perfection for the Original Gypsy Fair.

"Whanganui rocks. We have had a really good weekend. It was crazy here Saturday," field manager Gavin Mackenzie said.

The fair's 22 vehicles rolled into town with a variety of goods and amusements. There were doughnuts, smoothies, candy floss and hot chips to eat, singers and dancers to watch and games to play.

You could buy crystals or clothing, or get your ears pierced and your fortune read.

The Whanganui riverbank is a favourite venue for the Original Gypsy Fair. Photo / Lewis Gardner

Members of the group are chosen partly on what they provide, so that they don't compete with each other. Having authentic handmade goods to sell is a plus.

"You need a point of difference from what's up town," Mackenzie said.

The personalities of the travellers are also important.

"We are a community. We all travel and trade together."

The fair started with the Nambassa festival in 1982. It has been on the road from September to May in every summer since, Mackenzie said.

Since 1990 it has had a formal itinerary, and it is always in Whanganui around this time. Its name is patented.

Its owners are Jim and Venus Banks, who have a circus background and make arrangements such as booking grounds and hiring rubbish skips.

This year's fair has 22 vehicles signed up for the season - mostly buses and trailers rather than the housetrucks of the past.

Gavin Mackenzie manages the fair while it is on the road. Photo / Lewis Gardner

Mackenzie spends about $2000 a year on diesel as he drives a bus towing his shooting gallery 5000km, from one end of the country to the other.

"This is all I do for a living. If there are two or three wet weekends in a row poverty is right on the doorstep," he said.

He puts enough money away during the summer to survive the winter - frugally on his freehold land, and in his off-grid house.