The sun shone on the annual St Andrew’s Church Fête with around 500 people attending this popular event in the village calendar.

 With the saltire of St Andrew fluttering in the breeze from the church tower, the Fête was opened by the two newly appointed Church Wardens, Margaret Chadbourne and Robert Cole.  Then the compere, Steve Allison, confidently guided everyone through the entertainments for the remainder of the afternoon.  Music was provided by ‘Frances and Knud’ from Bristol with their distinctive mix of Frances’ jazz vocals and Knud on guitar.  

The first event was a fun run organised by David German, who expressed his disappointment that only 15 runners had entered.  The race was won by 15 year old Aaron Stayner from Shepton Beauchamp, in front of Edward Pratt (14) and Samuel Ough (8). 

‘Youth Moves’ performed a selection of folk dances on The Green, followed by the ever popular dog show.  One of the classes was for ‘The Bitch with the Waggiest Tail’ but the Curry Rivel News decided that a photograph of this particular class would be too much of a challenge to caption!

One of the organisers, John De Ronde, said “This is now the fifth Fête in which I have been involved.  This year there is no theme so as to keep it simple for the stall holders, but it has been a real challenge to find volunteers to run the stalls.  There is the same number as last year, but spread out more, which perhaps give the impression that there are fewer than previous years.”  Later John added “I think this has been a success and there’s been a good attendance despite the threat of rain.”

Amongst the stalls were the popular book stall, glass and crockery, bric-a-brac, ski-ball, a traditional coconut shy and ‘beat the buzzer’.  Zoe Kenyon painted lots of colourful butterflies and ‘Aslan the Lion’ onto small faces.  For those feeling hot and hungry there were stalls selling Pimms, ice cream, hot dogs and delicious homemade cakes, as well as of course Afternoon Tea in the Rectory’s car park.  For some there were moments of nostalgia when passing the display of vintage cars.  Pat McCain sighed wistfully when looking at the bright red MG TC roadster “I remember riding in one of these!”

Inside the Church were colourful and clever arrangements by the Flower Guild representing the various organisations in the village.  Organiser Rosemary Leaf said “By doing this we hope to raise awareness of our village and the sense of community amongst us all.”

And that really is what the Fête is all about – engendering a sense of community.  It had been a day much enjoyed by many.

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