A village fete is a great way for a local community to come together and celebrate the summer. They’re ideal for raising money, bringing locals together, or simply having fun.
Whatever your reason, here’s a complete guide on how to organise a village fete. We’ll cover what you can do and sell and then suggest some ideas for an enjoyable village fete.
How do you Organise a Village Fete? Organising a village fete can be a lot of work. The first step is to set up a committee of volunteers who can share out the work.
While there isn’t a set number of people to have on your committee, you’ll want at least one person for each of the following parts:
· Food and drink
· Games
· Selling
· Decorations
· Licences
· Hiring things
Of course, if you’re planning a large-scale event, you might want to break these categories down even further or assign teams to each. Make sure your volunteers have the time and resources they need to achieve their goals.
Picking a Date
A good place to start is by picking the date for your fete. It obviously shouldn’t clash with other local events and should either be on a weekend or a school holiday. Considering the fete season, it’ll likely fall in the summer break.
However, don’t overlook national events, too. For example, if there are sports fixtures on, they could severely limit your turnout. Get everyone together and spend a good chunk of time deciding on a date.
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Regular Meetings
Start your meetings several months before the fete is due to happen. It could take up to a year to get everything ironed out, but 3-6 months is ideal.
You might need to be in contact with your local council, so factor potential delays into your planning schedule.
How often you organise meetings depends on how much there is to do. Every fortnight should be fine, but you might want to make your meetings weekly in the runup to the fete.
Remember, there’s no such thing as being too organised!
It might also be worth reaching out to local businesses. They might give you products to use in your raffle or they might offer you a donation.
If nothing else, you can entice them in with some advertising space at your village fete! Just make sure you let them know why you’re organising the fete.
School Fete Insurance
You’ll want some kind of public liability insurance in place. The location of your fete may already have sufficient cover, particularly if it’s a public space like a football pitch or events ground.
Check with your host before going any further.
Failing that, speak to your local council, as they should be able to provide advice. You generally shouldn’t need to take out school fete insurance insurance, but your council can probably provide advice on this.
Also, if you’re bringing in third-party companies, they’ll need insurance.
All companies should have public liability insurance anyway, but make sure you confirm it with them and see a copy of their certificate if needed. In fact, you might need one on file for the location’s insurance cover.
What Can You Do at a Fete?
You can do almost anything you want at a fete. Some activities require licenses, although plenty of things are allowed under the concept of a privately-organised event.
Below is a list of the easiest things to do at a village fete.
Village Fete Ideas UK
If you’ve been to a summer fete, you should already have a decent idea of what you can do. Even so, here are some suggestions for what’s possible at a local fete.
Games
Having games at your fete is a no-brainer. They’re particularly useful if you’re raising money for a charity or local institution, as you don’t even need to set the entry fees too high.
We’ve got a full article on games suggestions for a fete, so check that out for more information. But here’s some examples of fancy fete games:
Champagne Ring Toss: This elegant twist on the classic ring toss game features champagne bottles as the targets. Guests are given a set of beautifully crafted rings, and their objective is to successfully toss these rings around the necks of the champagne bottles. Winners are awarded a bottle of champagne as a prize. This game adds a touch of sophistication and excitement to any fête, delighting guests with both the challenge and the allure of a luxurious reward.
High-Stakes Croquet: Elevate the traditional garden game of croquet by incorporating a high-fashion dress code and extravagant prizes. Set up a meticulously designed course with ornate wickets and beautifully painted croquet balls. Guests, dressed in their finest attire, compete against each other in teams, with the victors receiving opulent rewards such as gift baskets filled with gourmet treats or vouchers for luxurious experiences.
Masquerade Scavenger Hunt: Create an air of mystery and intrigue with a masquerade-themed scavenger hunt. Guests, adorned in elaborate masks and costumes, are given a series of riddles and clues leading them to various hidden treasures throughout the venue. Prizes can include pieces of high-end costume jewelry, tickets to exclusive events, or even a grand prize like a weekend getaway. This captivating game entices guests to explore their surroundings and interact with each other while indulging in the mystique of a masquerade.
Competitions
Most competitions will cross over with games, although this isn’t always the case. For example, you could have a prize for a sack race, which would cover both games and competitions.
Alternatively, you could have something like a cake-baking competition or a flower-growing competition.
The latter will need plenty of notice, but getting local kids to grow a plant from seed and then judging the results can be a fun long-term competition.
Catering for Kids and Adults
Think about your audience for the village fete. Of course, most things will be aimed at kids, but adults will be there too. You could arrange some adults-only events or set up activities that involve both adults and kids.
Catering for the Weather
It wouldn’t be a British village fete without the risk of rain. Make sure you have plans in place for this, although most of your guests will probably come to the event expecting rain.
Your solutions could be as simple as hiring a marquee, which is probably a good idea regardless of the weather.
However, it might be worth planning some rain-based games such as puddle splashing or mud town building.
Rain is most likely unavoidable, so make sure you have plans in place that’ll make it just as enjoyable as a sunny day.
Crafts
What’s a village fete without crafts? There are plenty of different ways you can turn this into an activity. It could be as simple as setting up a tent and having someone keep an eye on it.
You could provide card, paper, fabric and other supplies so people can make whatever they want.
Alternatively, you could try doing something more structured and have a local artist run classes. Make sure it’s beginner-friendly, though.
Something like peg dolls works well because you don’t need to be too artistic to design one!
You can buy them here ready to design:
A Main Event
You’ll need some kind of main event at your village fete. It doesn’t need to be anything big or expensive, it should just be something to draw people it.
For example, you could have a local musician or a display of local farm animals!
Another option is to theme your fete and base the main attraction around that. You could do a Wild West theme and have a bucking bronco or a surfing simulator for a beach-themed fete.
What Can I Sell at a Fete?
Selling stuff at a fete is generally pretty easy. The government laws around selling regulations are more relaxed for events like a village fete than for everyday commerce.
Below are some examples of what you can sell and what you’ll need to sell them.
Food
Selling food at a village fete is pretty easy. Your planning will largely be dependent on whether you’re selling hot or cold food and whether it’ll be cooked on site or in advance.
The Food Standards Agency has a clear guide on selling food at local community events. The key takeaways are:
· You don’t need to be a registered food business to do so.
· By extension, you don’t need to follow full allergen information law, although it’s best to give as much detail as possible.
· You must still follow food hygiene best practice.
Consider getting in touch with your local food safety team if you want more specific advice.
However, an easier way to get around this is to get local businesses involved. It could be anything from a local café making sandwiches to food stall businesses.
They’ll have all the correct paperwork to provide food safely, which leaves you one less thing to worry about.
Drink
Unsurprisingly, you’re completely free to sell non-alcoholic drinks such as tea, coffee, and soft drinks. Your community hall might even have catering appliances for doing just this.
Alcohol is a slightly different story. If you don’t plan to sell it (i.e. charge money), you can do what you want.
But if the venue of your village fete has a premises license or a club premises license, you’re legally allowed to sell alcohol.
You will need a Temporary Event Notice if you plan to sell alcohol and the venue doesn’t have its own license. These are fairly easy to get, so it shouldn’t present too much bother.
Products
A village fete can be a great way to bring together local producers and sellers. This could include anything from local crafts to food and drink.
If these people have sold at public events before, they should have all the necessary insurance and paperwork.
You might need to provide them with a stall or other infrastructure, but most will probably have their own. It might be worth charging them a small fee for setting up at your fete.
It doesn’t need to be much, but it at least means you’re getting some money for the space they’re using.
Organisation Fete
Hopefully, you now know how to organise a village fete. The most important thing is to start early, so you can stay on top of timelines and goals.
Make sure you get enough people to volunteer and the event should go off without a hitch!
