Best Fete Fundraisers? Or Not? Reviews| Fetes & Festivals

Best fete fundraisers or not so good? Read a fete review from a visitor’s perspective

The weather wasn’t kind. Cold very overcast Sunday. By midday the skies opened up and we left after that (we had seen enough of what we needed to report or be part of) but whether that affected the fete participation after that I’m not sure. The feeling was that a lot of people had come out early before the weather got bad. The fete was well supported before then, a lot of people in attendance and those numbers had dropped rapidly when we left in the rain, even the parking was ample. What a shame – but you can’t control mother nature can you?
Flyers – None sighted but we were well out of our local area so can’t comment or score.
Signage – 4/5 fantastic sign on the M4 overpass as we drove out to it and then as we got off the freeway the exit had another sign. It would have been great to have an arrow pointing to the school off the next main road. If you weren’t local and knew of the schools location or knew where you were going then you could have got lost getting there.
Parking – 4/5 – loads of side streets to find a car spot. We got one closer than we were expecting.
Food quality and prices – 3/5 – My biggest disappointment was their cake stall. Normally a cake stall within the first 2 hours of a fete has loads on offer. But whether they were lacking in donations or they’d been super busy for that hour or so before we got there the pickings were getting a bit slim. In the time that we were at the fete (an hour), the stall had sold out. Still some lovely little cakes which were delicious and reasonably priced at either 50c or $1.00 each. Coffee cart was doing a great trade in the cold weather and reasonably priced for $5.00 large cappuccino. The Outback steakhouse was supporting the school and running the BBQ. Burgers were $7.00, sausage sandwich $3.00. Drinks (water, juice $1.00 – soft drink cans $2.00) as usual my daughter judges a fete by fairy floss being there and her thumbs up came from her $4.00 bag she devoured.
Fete Rides 5/5 – something for everyone. 7 rides in total as part of their $30.00 rides band passes. Dodgem, jumping castle, super slide, mini ferris wheel, tug boat. Individual rides were $5.00. Then additionally there was pony rides $5.00, jeep rides $6.00 per 3 mins, zorb water balls (price unknown).
Chill out zone – 4/5 plaster painting $3.00 each, face painting and slot car rides (not sure of pricing on those sorry) plenty of quieter areas for families to go to for spreading out on the outer areas but still see what was going on though that would have been ineffective after the rain started.
Entertainment – 3/5 standard local dance groups etc. But it would have been good to see a time frame or program of upcoming entertainment in the area (stuck to a wall or noticeboard?).
Raffles – 5/5 seemed extremely reasonably priced at $1.00 a ticket for the monster raffle. The chocolate wheel was doing a great trade as well. Prizes on offer were fantastic – ranging from signed sports merchandise to home entertainment system (first prize for raffle valued at $1600) to name a few.
Health and Safety – A St Johns ambulance man who was in the main courtyard central to everyone. His high visy shirt was very prominent but he was subtly placed in the corner.
Innovation – It was my first fete that I’d actually seen a school hire ATM machines. Smart move. More access to cash to buy those ‘must have purchases’ = more profit and fundraising.
Layout – the fete was quite large and it was well spread out without the feeling of it being on top of each other. As we were leaving though we found that there was a map at the raffle tables. Would have been better had their maps been at the entrance points to the school (with the entertainment also listed?) so that everyone knew where to go to.
Hit – my daughter loved the year 6 fundraising stall of hair feather extensions $10 for 3 feathers. My son loved the external market stall selling minecraft merchandise. My vote went to the cake stall
Miss – the small yet over priced book stall ($1.00 a kids book – where’s the bargain books??) & lack of maps/layout on offer.
Reviewer: Fiona Crabb
School Fete Fundraiser: Our Lady of the Way