Freaky Trigger commented that it "surprised people at the time, and on the verses at least it's their strangest-sounding single. "Driving down an endless road..." it begins, and that's not at all a bad description of the lonesome vibe here – the odd combination of flowing, tumbling Latin percussion and Hucknall's ruminative vocal, working together to create something genuinely arresting, even haunting." Pan-European magazine Music & Media noted that it is "totally different from Hucknall's previous singles but still very much him thanks to the one-in-a-million voice and the trademark composition." They added that "the fairground attraction" of the single is its "percussive arrangement and clubiness." A reviewer from Music Week rated it five out of five, picking it as Single of the Week. The reviewer added, "No wonder radio has leapt on this, a charmingly-delivered song which couples instant commerciality in the tune stakes with a hip tribal backing. Headed straight for the summit." Alan Jones said, "Despite its heavily syncopated underpinning, it is a stylish and straightforward pop song with Mick Hucknall's usual high calibre vocal and an instantly commercial chorus." James Hamilton from the magazine's RM Dance Update called it "attractive". People Magazine'''s reviewer wrote that the "energetic" song "combines soulful abandon with tribal ecstasy." David Gaskey from The Rice Thresher described it as "an innovative, futuristic jazz/pop song inspired by a popular fairground outside of Milan." Mark Sutherland from Smash Hits stated that Hucknall "still has a lovely singing voice". However, he felt the song "sort of tinkles along merrily without really going anywhere." Chart performance It was the first and only single by the group to reach No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart. It spent four weeks at the top and 14 weeks in the top 40. As of October 2018, the single has sold 718,463 copies according to the Official Charts Company. The track also reached No. 1 in Ireland and Italy and peaked within the top 10 in more than 10 countries, including Australia, Germany, New Zealand and Zimbabwe. A remix by Soulshock and Karlin was included on the US single release and received moderate success on R&B radio but failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 14 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100. In 2012, "Fairground" was ranked No. 47 in NMEs list of the "50 best-selling tracks of the 90s", adding: "Shamelessly lifting the clattering samba