The Ultimate Guide for a Day to Remember
Summer is the perfect time to get the community together and raise some money for a good cause with a local fair.
The village fete or fair – it’s a part of the traditional English summer, and even if you live in a teeming city, it’s the perfect way to encourage that all-important community spirit. It can also be a fantastic way to raise funds for your local school, church or other worthy cause.
So what are you waiting for? If you’ve always liked the idea of arranging something in your local community but not known where to start, read the following tips on everything from local authority permission to generator hire services to ensuring a great turn out.
Assemble your team
First of all, don’t think you can do it all yourself. It might sound a little Vicar of Dibley, but the first thing you need is a committee. Get a team of half a dozen or so together, and share out the jobs. Make sure you keep in regular contact – it’s easier than ever today, and you can set up a shared group on social media or Skype.
Get the necessities in place
Before you can dive into the fun stuff of arranging stalls and events, there are some preliminaries to sort out. Ensure you have the right insurance in place that will cover all the activities, and check that third party providers of things like rides and bouncy castles have their own liability cover.
Speak to the local council and check whether you need any additional licence for activities such as raffles, live music or serving alcohol. Also, ask them to provide a
risk assessment template, as you will need to perform an assessment for every activity. For a larger event, you might want to have St John’s Ambulance on hand.
Get your power arranged
Bouncy castles, PA systems, lighting, rides – none of them are going to work unless you have the juice flowing. Get in touch with a generator hire company as soon as you can, and run through your requirements. They will be able to offer advice on the size of generator you will need.
Prepare to get wet
Failure to account for the chance of bad weather at a summer fair was a crucial plot point in The Mayor of Casterbridge. Thomas Hardy wrote that more than 130 years ago, and we still haven’t learned. Always have a wet weather plan, or your summer fair will be a damp squib. Ideally, have a marquee or gazebos, but if it is a smaller-scale affair, some simple backup games like muddy puddle jumping can be called into action!
Get the word out
Summer is a busy time, so don’t assume that the world is just sitting around waiting every weekend for someone to throw a fair. Make posters and flyers, get them put up in the community centre, church and school, and make use of social media. It’s easy to set up a Facebook event, and if you keep it updated and ask people to share, it will soon be the talking point of your local community, with everyone counting down the days.
