Published Monday, 27 August 2012
Horse trading was restricted at the fair for the first time. (© Pacemaker)
No horses were allowed to be tethered on Fairhill Street in Ballycastle or allowed to run in public streets during the event.
It followed a decision by Moyle District Council, which it said was made for health and safety reasons and also for the welfare of the animals.
The horses were instead restricted to one area which will be supervised throughout the two days.
One trader told UTV: "It's one of the oldest fairs in Ireland and we'd like to see it go on.
"Horse trading in the north of Ireland has always been a problem, as regards our horses are always classed as second class citizens up here. In the south in fairs it's a very big thing.
"But some very good ponies have come out of this fair and I'd like to see it go on."
Meanwhile the town was bustling as several thousand people turned out for the yearly fair despite the wet and windy weather.
Local musicians busked on the streets and there were lots of family activities on offer including face painting and a rodeo bull ride.
Time honoured treats proved popular as ever with market stalls offering the seaweed snack 'dulse' and sweet chewy toffee 'yellow man', as well as souvenirs and bric-a-brac.
"It's traditional," one seller, Derek Montgomerie, said.
"Yellow man, dulse and honeycomb so it is - that's all that goes at the Auld Lammas Fair!"
The fair traditionally marks the end of the summer and the beginning of the harvest. Its exact origin is uncertain, but one theory is that it began as a result of the occupation of the area around Ballycastle by the MacDonnell's of the Isles in the early part of the sixteenth century.
It will resume in the Co Antrim town on Tuesday.