June, July and August in the UK sees the tradition of holding the village fete or sometimes referred to as a fair. Village fetes have been held for centuries and traditionally give villages the chance to meet, socialise, show off their handicrafts and skills and play games. Modern village fetes will employ the services of a bouncy castle or other types of entertainers, but for the traditional fete the locals provided the entertainment. The vast number of games offered at the village fete precludes a comprehensive list here but some of the more common are: apple bobbing, coconut shies, lucky dip and roll a penny.
But it is not solely the playing of games that provides for entertainment. The prowess of the gardener and farmer are also tested in competitions. Gardeners exhibit their prize blooms or vegetables while livestock shows or sheep dog trials are the favoured competitions of the farmers. Riding skills, particularly the youngsters are often on display in the gymkhana section. Children also get the chance to enter the pet competitions where dogs, cats guinea pigs and the like are groomed for display and their owners hope that their animal doesn’t let the side down with some bad behaviour! Children may also provide entertainment with country dancing displays.
The ladies of the village are also hard at work in the competitions baking food, flower arranging, wine making or displaying handicrafts such as corn dollies. Produce including beers may be sold often from stalls with the proceeds going to a local charity or some other worthy cause. Larger fetes may have a show of historic vehicles, steam engines or a merry-go-round. Finally, if the organisers of the fete have been very lucky they may have secured the services of a celebrity to open the fete and sign autographs etc.
One thing though is for sure, a lot of hard work goes into organising and running a village fete which is what makes a full entertaining day for all those who attend. If you don’t have the room for a full miniature fete why not have some memorabilia from the fete in your dolls house or create a room box with a scene from a village fete.