Delight as May fete in Barnham brings villagers together

Taking place from 11am to 4pm on Saturday (May 28), the event was organised as a partial celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and featured everything from stalls and children’s activities to a fully featured dog-show.

With more than 130 entries over nine classes, the dog show was a particular hit, and organisers said it worked especially with the village fete format.

"We wanted to offer a local community event with a wide appeal and a small cost for those attending,” said Kathy Lanigan from the Barnham and Eastergate Community Trust, the organisation responsible for the event.

"We always wanted to have a dog show in conjunction with a village-style fete and that is what we looked for in the stalls, traders and charities we asked to attend.”

Taking place from the beginning of the day until 3pm, the dog show was just one part of a full schedule of events, including a performance by Knightstar Productions; a children’s theatre group formed in 2013, which uses the Barnham Community Hall to rehearse every Thursday evening.

Other activities featured on the day included children’s archery, a ‘build a basher’ stand organised by the local army cadets, a ride-on miniature steam train, a face-paint stand and a variety of stalls helmed by local businesses.

Mrs Lanigan said the community response was enthusiastically positive: “everyone has been so kind and positive in their comments by e-mail, on social media and in person, particularly asking whether this will be repeated this year. We're hoping this means we achieved our aim of a successful, traditional community get-together and will certainly consider another.

"We had such lovely weather and a really good attendance from in and around the area, especially for the Dog Show which meant more people at the stalls and stands.”

She went on to thank the army cadets and the teams of volunteers who made Saturday's event possible.