Who doesn’t love a good… village fête?

Whether you’re from the coast, the countryside, a city break budget or an all-inclusive mindset, there’s one summer event etched into the national memory (and sometimes the liver): the good old British summer fête. 

The bunting. The raffle. The dodgems. The beer tent. If you’ve got “a village” to your name — or have adopted one — you know exactly what we mean. 

 

THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF A PROPER VILLAGE FÊTE 

Every parish has its quirks, but for it to count as a true fête, it needs all of the following, in roughly this order: 

  • THE COMPETITION TENT. Be it a pub quiz, a tombola, or the fiercely contested Victoria sponge bake-off. Where the local cricket team arrives hungover, the neighbouring village’s team stirs the pot, and the sponsor (usually the local butcher or optician) hands the winner a meat hamper or free eye test.

  • THE FUNFAIR. Complete with waltzers, bumper cars, hook-a-duck, and other rides with more risk than sneezing with a full pint in your hand. Fun for kids, parents, and the slightly delicate crowd nursing a hangover from the night before.
  • THE LIVE BAND. Capable of switching from Sweet Caroline to Dua Lipa at alarming speed, all while wearing matching glitter waistcoats and questionable hats.
  • THE EVENING DANCE. Two clear phases: a) chart hits and cheesy floor-fillers, and b) the “guilty pleasures” playlist — the songs everyone swears they hate for 11 months, but scream along to come August.
  • THE AFTER-PARTY. Local traditions take over: hardcore drum & bass in the pub car park, awkward summer snogs behind the marquee, or a fiercely competitive bingo in the town hall. All until sunrise.
     


HOW TO BLEND IN LIKE A LOCAL 

Becoming more than “the outsider from the next village over” takes commitment. The 3 keys are:
 

#1 JOIN A CREW 

In rural Britain, this is your pub team, bell-ringing group, or the slightly chaotic gang who run the beer tent. Recognise them by: 

Matching T-shirts or fancy dress with questionable slogans. 

A fully stocked bar (usually an old fridge plugged into an extension lead). 

At least one battered sofa that’s seen things it will never tell.
 

#2 LEARN THE LOCAL SONGS 

Every village has a few classics. No need to memorise the lyrics — loud humming is absolutely fine.

 

#3 EMBRACE THE FOOD & DRINK 

Breakfast is at 8am on your way home from the dance (full English, plus a pint, for “soakage”). 

Lunch around 1pm: could be a hog roast or community BBQ — always eaten from paper plates, always shared straight from the same serving dish. 

Dinner is a quick bacon sarnie before heading to the fairground. 

The “late-night bite” is anything fried or sugary from a stall, to keep you upright between rounds of “mystery punch” that everyone pretends to know the recipe for. 

And yes, in village fêtes, you drink. A lot. At all hours.
 

 

NATIONAL TREASURES 

From Glastonbury’s smaller, cleaner cousins, to the Shrewsbury Flower Show, to hundreds of tiny fêtes that double the village population for a weekend and halve the average age — they’re all part of our cultural heritage. 

But if you can, embrace it. Because this is family. It’s home. And making fun of it? That’s practically treason.


 



P.S.: For a well-played fête — where only the Pimm’s hits you and not the sunburn — grab our Handsomefyer SUN SPF 50. 

  • Fits in your bum bag or fancy-dress costume.

  • Hides the effects of too many ciders.

  • Gives you that “I’m totally fine” filter for surprise encounters.
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