Village Fete Fun

20th August 2017

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The annual Metfield Village Fete, organised by the Village Hall Committee, took place on St John’s Meadow on August 19th.  For the first time the new village hall bar and Meadow Room lounge provided an counterpoint to the activities out on the meadow giving the Fete and the accompanying Produce Show a new dynamic.

After being shown round the village hall extension, Dr Dan Poulter, our local MP was accompanied round the Fete’s attractions by parish council Chairman Peter Mortimer.  Dr Poulter informally congratulated the efforts of local volunteers in securing the grant to extend the village hall and also paid tribute to the Fete’s organisers and many volunteers.

Lots of fun was had by all ages competing in short sprint races.  The Tombola, boasting no less than 700 items was a great success, as was the ‘Guess the Wine Bottle’ and the spirit bottle raffles.  There was a steady stream of customers for Jill and Lorraine’s burgers and other tasty barbecue snacks and in the tea tent a large selection of homemade cake proved very popular.  Handicraft and other stalls demonstrated the results of deft skills of local residents.

There was excellent live music but there will probably need to be a re-think for next year on how to stage the music now that the fete is taking place both in the hall and on the meadow.

The Village Hall Committee made a special presentation to Gill Smith and the other organisers of the Produce Show in recognition of their 40th consecutive year, an epic achievement.

The Mini Beer Festival continued through the afternoon having kicked off in the bar the previous evening.  The event proved very popular with most of the guest beers consumed on Friday evening.

The Scarecrow competition was enthusiastically entered by many participants around the village giving Eve and Joey Peck a very difficult task in selecting a winner.

Again a huge thank-you to the Village Hall Committee for organising the Fete and Mini Beer Festival and to the many Metfield volunteers for helping set up the tents and stalls and staff them through the afternoon.  Thanks also to the willing rota of voluntary bar staff who kept many thirsty customers supplied with their favourite drinks.  And most of all thanks to all Metfielders and our friends from the surrounding area who joined us for an afternoon of fun and fund raising on behalf of the Metfield Village Hall.