Are You Going to Scarborough Fair…?

"Fair", nowadays, is a term we normally use to signify a place. Those who live, for example, in the zone of Milan,or in its Hinterland, very well know what it means to read that an apartment for sale is in the area of Milan's "old Fair", and know just as well that if they find themselves stuck in traffic on the Western Highway it can be a good idea to exit at "Rho Fair" and cross the town; in the same way, the citizens of Rome know how to get to "the Fair Zone"… and in these places, and so many similar others, we find large buildings and organized structures, often extremely modern, and an ample, varied calendar of events during the year.

But we must not forget - and we had Artelegno, a Company specialized in trade show stands and installations, that works every day to help Companies exhibit at one Fair or another - that for several centuries the word "Fair" did not signify a place, but an actual, important event! While it is surely true that many cities have areas permanently dedicated to setting up Fairs, the most important thing to keep in mind is that initially, and we mean at least around the Roman era, a Fair was most of all an occasion for trade and meeting, in a world where both were far rarer than today.

Used as we are to a constantly connected world, where traveling from one side of the planet to the other is a matter of hours, we can encounter a few difficulties in remembering how, in ancient times, traveling was a dangerous, exhausting, and time-consuming endeavor. Merchants rarely could afford to reach faraway places with their merchandise, and occasions for meeting people with different origins and backgrounds were rare. But the Fair changed all of this: it was a day, or even a short period of a few days, where the harsh labor in the fields was suspended a time when, gathering from all over the land, merchants could exhibit their wares to a curious, attentive audience, and in the meanwhile negotiate business and finalize important agreements. So important these events were that in many European Fairs, in the Middle Ages as well as in the Renaissance, merchants were completely free, immune and escorted for the whole duration of the Fair: they were subject to no tax or duty in importing their goods, and they were actually escorted by men-at-arms to the Fair site and back to the border on their return. Such exceptional protection, which extended to the merchants' agents and wares alike, even forbade authorities to arrest a merchant for any reason, or hold their wares, for the entire duration of the Fair! To receive such incredible level of protection, merchants needed to be recognized as an essential part of the Kingdom's welfare, with the trades and information they could bring.

But all of this adventurous side now belongs to the past. Nowadays, a Fair is first and foremost an organized meeting point between Companies and Customers, and an occasion to show one's best. For this reason Companies exist like Artelegno, which work to design and build stands and installations giving the exhibited products' quality a chance to shine, and allowing those who use their services to put on show not just their wares, but their Company itself.
Principles very similar, all in all, to those of a Medieval merchant…