It came as a surprise that the committee were looking for a new venue. After all, I’d been to the last two fetes (since living in the village), and whilst it wasn’t the traditional village green location that one immediately thinks of when hearing the words “village fete”, it seemed to work reasonably well.
However, it turns out that the pub has been put up for sale. There doesn’t seem to be any imminent sign of it changing hands, but it could happen. This, and a couple of other concerns, led to the committee considering other venues. The trouble is, there’s not much other choice. Historically, there’s been the Old Rectory, however it’s now in private ownership as the village hasn’t had its own vicar for many years. The owner had previously hosted the fete a few years back, but understandably wasn’t keen to do it again as it’s a massive undertaking and invasion of privacy – simply they’ve done their part & are happy to give someone else a turn.
So, where else? The village is fortunate to have its own very nice village hall. However, it has no grounds and is next to a major road. To have the fete there would require the closing of a cul-de-sac to provide space for all the stalls and activities. Obviously this would be inconvenient to all the residents living there.
We have a historic village green, however this now forms part of some people’s front gardens! It’s too small to support the whole fete, so would need another road closure, and it’s also too far from the facilities of the village hall to be of any use.
As this is a faming community, there may also be also fields available for use. However, we wouldn’t have utilities like power and water, nor access to toilet facilities.
We agree to investigate the options and report back at the next meeting!