Fair on St Sebastian's Day

The church is surrounded by stalls, and the villagers are celebrating. Some are having a drink under the lean-to of the yellow house, while others are sitting upstairs by the open window, courting. The large pennant flapping on the flagpole depicts St Sebastian, to whom the fair is dedicated.

Peasant fairs were very popular with Flemish painters. When Jacob Savery moved to Amsterdam from Flanders around 1590, the theme was not well known there yet. Savery was one of the painters who introduced the subject to Holland.