Fetes and fairs are synonymous with the British summer and a fantastic way to raise money for charity. With the warm weather approaching and people keen to enjoy a strong sense of community, now is the time to start planning your summer fete ideas. Whether you set up a cake or face painting stall or take your chances on the tombola, ensure your UK summer fundraiser is extra special with our list of summer fair ideas.
Get organized and sell tickets to the fete online with a free fundraising event website.
10 Top Summer Fete Stall Ideas
Here are the ten best stalls to include in your summer fetes. Your supporters will love these ideas and come back for more!
Face Painting Stands
Most kids love to be transformed into their favourite superhero, animal, or dinosaur for the afternoon. Set up your stall and charge £2 for each face painting, and if you’re feeling more adventurous, why not add an extra fee to add coloured wash-out hair spray and temporary tattoos?
Wacky Races
Encouraging the camaraderie of the traditional fete are the three-legged race, the egg-and-spoon race, and the sack race. These are silly and fun competitions for any age and ability and are sure to have you in fits of giggles by the end.
Flower Crowns
There’s nothing like wearing a flower crown to make you feel like a princess. Charge for ready-made crowns and set up an area where people can weave flowers together to make garlands and crowns of their own for a small fee.
Tug-of-War
The village tug-of-war fight, where the local men and women team up and show off their brute strength, is not to be missed at your local summer fete. More than ever, it’s a chance to demonstrate the solidarity of the community and get into the spirit of the event. The two competing teams can donate to participate, and why not make them dress up as Superheroes, Vikings, or Gladiators for a bit of extra fun and humiliation?!
Bouncy Castles
Every quintessential British summer fete must have a bouncy castle. Children and big kids (aka adults) love to have fun in the sunshine, and what better way than a bouncy castle to do it?
Coconut Shy
A classic summer fete idea! Set up a few coconuts on stands and get people to pay to knock them off by throwing balls at them. The person to knock off all the coconuts wins a prize.
Everyone Loves Guessing Games
Summer fetes encourage us to try our luck with raffles and tombolas and often bring out our competitive side. What better way to win prizes, make money for a good cause, and have fun than summer fete guessing games? Here are a few ideas to get your supporters excited.
How Long/How Heavy?
Simple guessing games can be great fun, popular, and inexpensive at Summer fetes. You can set up a stand with a pet or an object(s) and ask for a small donation so people can guess its weight or length. For example, your pet sausage dog’s length, your giant tortoise’s weight, or your fluffy cat’s age. Make customized merchandise of the pet or object in question, like badges or pens, and give those away as prizes.
Balloon Cars
Fill a car with as many balloons as possible. Pay a pound to guess how many balloons you think are inside the car and write it down. The person who guesses correctly or the closest guess wins a prize. Even better, try to get a tour company to sponsor you by donating their tour bus to fill with balloons and then raffle off a tour voucher as the top prize.
For an easy option, fill a jar with sweets, like jelly beans, and ask people to pay to guess how many sweets are inside. The winning or closest guess wins bragging rights and the jar of goodies.
Guess the Name
Another popular and low-cost summer fete idea is to run a competition to guess the name of something. How about bringing your favorite soft toy from home, placing it on display on your stall, asking people to pay 20p to guess its name, and the correct answer wins a small prize? People can guess as many times as they want; you could even charge a little extra if they want to guess with a clue.
Food Stall Ideas for Summer Fairs and Fetes
The word fête is French and originally meant a feast or festival, so don’t forget to set up a food stall in the name’s honor. Stick with a French theme and offer crepes with a variety of fillings to choose from. Hot dogs and burgers (including veggie burgers) are also favourites at summer fetes. The idea is to keep costs low and provide easy-to-walk-around-with food options.
Cake Stalls
Once people have devoured their main course, they’ll look for something sweet for dessert. A slice of homemade Victoria sponge, chocolate chip cookies, or decadent cupcakes are a perfect way to satisfy a sweet tooth. Go one step further to set up a cream tea stand, selling scones, clotted cream, and jam with a traditional English brew.
You could even run a bake-off competition to vote on the tastiest cake or biscuit.
Quench that thirst!
It’s important not to forget about the adults and how to keep them entertained while the kids are on the bouncy castle and getting their faces painted. How about orgainsing a Pimm’s tent to really get into the summer spirit. Or how about a Cocktail making stand as a creative summer fete idea? You can serve traditional cocktails to the parents and virgen alternatives for the kids. It might be too early to get away to the beach but you can dive into the holiday spirit with a Piña Colada!
Eco-friendly Summer Fete Ideas
Do your part for the environment and set up an eco-friendly stall as a great summer fete idea. This is a clever way to spread environmental consciousness among adults and children and have fun in the process. Why not run a stall that sells plants, herbs and seeds? You can even host some interactive demonstrations of how to get started with planting and an advice corner for budding gardeners.
Upcycle Stall
Customising used products and upcycling are great summer fete ideas. Giving new life and a creative twist to old goods is an innovative way to teach people about sustainability and being eco-friendly. Just grab some odds and ends from home like old plant pots, jam jars or dog/cat bowls and provide a variety of simple stationary items to jazz up any old item into a newfound treasure for a small donation.
Host a Dog Show
Hopefully, everyone and their dog will be attending your Summer fete, so don’t forget to involve your furry guests in the fun. Advertise this summer fete event in advance with posters around the village and online. Set up an agility course for the energetic dogs and a costume competition for the rest. Charge a small fee for participation and ask local pet shops to donate a few prizes, like dog treats, for the winners. Don’t know how to approach local businesses for donations? Use our raffle donation prize letter template to guide you. Remember not to limit yourself to dogs. Get people to bring their weird and wonderful pets to show everyone. You can award prizes or rosettes for a variety of categories like most exotic pet, furriest pet, softest/roughest pet, biggest/smallest, loudest……..the list is endless! To increase profitability and donations for your chosen charity, sell pet merchandise and offer personalized pet products that you can offer at the fair or sell on an eCommerce store.
Don’t Forget a Charity Tombola or Raffle
A summer fete wouldn’t be the same without these classic summer fete ideas – raffles and a tombola. Simply purchase a numbered ticket to win a prize. You can source raffle prizes from local businesses or even give away homemade gifts like jams or baked goods. The fun is in the tombola spin and the anticipation of a win. They’re sure-fire money spinners that kids and adults of all ages love to have a go on. For more information on running a lawful UK-based charity raffle, please follow our helpful guidelines.
With our fundraising websites, you can sell summer fete tickets online, take donations, and even sell charity raffle tickets.
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