These were large social occasions, in May and November, when the streets of Hay were filled with farm workers, maids and other service staff looking for employment.

The streets were packed with people and the shops enjoyed their busiest trading days, with bills paid off weekly or monthly when workers next travelled to town. The May Hiring Fair included side-shows of boxing in the Bull Ring, music, skittles, Aunt Sally booths, swing-boat rides, merry-go-rounds and dancing bears (which were penned overnight in the Bear Pit beneath the Pavement, now a shop).

The Cheese Market Project has worked with the Rural Media Company, Llanigon Young Farmers and Hay Youth Club to capture memories of these days in short films.