The months of June, July and August, and even September, are the time of village fêtes and fairs across England and especially so amongst the smaller hamlets and villages, where they can be one of the major community highlights of the year – along with perhaps Guy Fawkes Night (aka Fireworks Night) and May Day, and of course the Easter Sunday and Christmas Day church services.
The village fête or fair (they are pretty much the same thing these days) is usually an annual outdoor show held on the village green or similar communal area – unless it is raining of course, when it may be moved inside to the village hall – with a variety of activities and attractions. They tend to be organised by an ad hoc committee of local volunteers from the community, generally to raise funds for the benefit of worthy causes in the local community and selected local charities.
Planning may start anything from 3 months beforehand to as early as a few weeks after the previous year’s fair. Volunteers are ‘recruited’, usually in the pub when the fair seems a long way off and everyone is relaxed (and defences are down!), responsibilities are assigned, and the planning commences. Ideas are sought for new attractions, temporary road closures need to be applied for and car parking in adjacent fields needs to be planned, a licence for the sale of alcohol need to be applied for, raffle prizes need to be solicited from local donors, a sound system needs to be hired, various stalls may need to be built, secondhand books, bric-a-brac and ‘nearly new’ clothes all need to be sourced, and visiting attractions and shows need to be booked.
Typical attractions may include a tombola, various raffles, a bric-a-brac stall, a secondhand bookstall, a ‘nearly new’ clothes stall, flower stall, a cake and home-produce stall (all home-made of course), and various games such as a coconut shy, skittles or bowling for a pig, Aunt Sally (often a variation like a coconut shy but smashing old crockery instead!), ‘whack-a-rat‘ and other creative competitive challenges. And of course there are competitions also, from the serious such as baking a cake, flower arranging, and fruit and vegetable growing to the less serious but equally just as competitive such as tallest weed, most deformed vegetable and best decorated Wellington boot.
Other attractions may include such events as displays of Morris Dancing, a parade of vintage tractors or classic cars, fancy dress competitions, a dog show or pet show and a tug-of-war competition, perhaps between local pub teams or neighbouring villages.
Being only a tiny hamlet in a large rural parish on Dartmoor, the annual fair at North Bovey is a big event for the community raising funds for local causes. It is very traditional with all the usual stalls plus a few more creative ones each year. Amongst the most popular features are the secondhand bookstall, bric-a-brac, flower stall, various competitions in the church and of course, the best cream teas in all of Devon served up in the village hall. (And always cream on first, jam on second – after all, this is Devon and not Cornwall!)
This year’s fair at North Bovey (2023) was a success. The weather was declining all week, as only the weather of an English Summer can. Rain was forecast, and at one stage thunderstorms were forecast throughout the day, but the morning drizzle cleared up by around 10am, and although a bit windy the weather began to slowly brighten up. Everyone wants the typical English village fair or fête to be an idyllic event bathed in warm sunshine, just like in television dramas, no-one remembers the years when the rain is horizontal and the ground is a quagmire! But by the time the local vicar, the Rev. Sue Sheppard, opened the North Bovey Fair the sun had cautiously begun to shine.
Despite the odds, the crowds came, and most importantly the rain stayed away… at least until around 5:30pm whilst everyone was clearing up, but by that time no-one really cared, the day had been a success. It NEVER rains on Fair Day in North Bovey! And in the pub afterwards during the evening, everyone had ideas on how to do it better next year… except that most of these great ideas will be long forgotten when planning actually gets underway next year!
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