Its not till mid March that the fairs really begin with Dumfries and Perth as fairs that many see as the 'official' start of the travelling season. At Dumfries, Douglas Codona presented his 3 machines as well as Hiscoes Dodgems, Johnstones Rock'O'Plane and Stringfellows Drop Tower which was on a first time visit to the fair. Situated on the Whitesands Car Park, the fair is quite compact with the attractions down both sides of the car park. From here, Douglas Codona will take his rides to be set up at his Amusement Park in Helensburgh for the season until the back end run starts. Starting about a week later, the Whites arrive at the South Inch Car Park for their 4 week stay leading up to Kirkcaldy. This fair this year has a change in Waltzer as John White has now retired and Ryan Spencers "Rythmn Master" Waltzers is taking his place. This is quite a change for the people of Perth as Whites Waltzers have always been at the Spring fair for a number of years now. Rodney Johnstones Coaster is also missing this year, it being decided to try Easter fairs down south. Other usual rides are on offer as well as a good selection of Arcades and Juveniles.

John Evans started his season with a 4 day visit to Mayfield again. All the machines that attended last year returned with the exception of the Gamble & Millers Twist, which made its debut here last year, which has now been sold. From here, the rides moved on to Prestonpans, again for 4 days, then its onto Dunbar. - Thanks to Bobby Anderson for the info on the dates. After their opening fair at Livingston, Hornes Pleasure Fairs paid a visit to the Harbour Side at Stranraer, the rides were the same as Livingston with a few more Juveniles. From Stranraer, the fair moved to Ayr Racecourse but without the "Adrenalin" Streetfighter which has now been sold after quite some time trying to sell it. The ride has been sold to an Amusement Park in America.

The last few days of March saw M&D's Planet Fun try a new venue at a shut down power station at Portobello. From a distance, M&D's Giant Wheel and Bomber Mark 2 could clearly be seen acting as a very good advert for the fair. Other M&D's rides present were their "Mad Mouse" Spinning Coaster, which wasn't very busy at all, the "Eclipse" Contact and makings its debut in Scotland the "Spiderman" Jumper which has spinning cars. The ride which attended a few back end fairs last year was certainly getting its fair share of attention and im sure the ride will do well at future fairs. The fair also attracted a couple of English owned rides to come up for the event, these being Colin & Darren Nobles Funlight Miami and Alan Stokes "Sizzler" Twist. Gambles Coaster and Tagada were also present.

There has been quite a number of Ride Changes been reported this month with all the rides heading out of Scotland. As well as Hornes Streetfighter already mentioned, Gavin Stirlings "Wind Surf" Miami and James Arthur Wrights "Wacky Worm" Coaster have been sold to Show Families in Ireland, Damien Batemans Move It has been sold after spending 2 seasons with him but the new owners are not known. Alex Colquhouns "Road to Hell" Rollerghoster and Anthony Strands "Rage Cage" Round Up have also moved on to new families, as has Benny Codonas Skydiver which was sold back in November to make way for the Twist he bought from Gamble & Miller. Gavin Stirlings Twist has had a make over with new lighting etc and should be ready to open very soon, and John Wheatleys new machine has still not arrived at Perth yet, so heres hoping he has it for Kirkcaldy!