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What games are suitable for Villages Fetes, School Fairs and the like?

We have quite a few good ideas for traditional games that are ideal for school fetes and summer fairs.

 

Coconut Shy

Obviously there's the coconut shy - seen at all fairgrounds everywhere! We sell coconut shy balls but you'll need to rig up a backdrop and also provide the poles and the cups to hold the coconuts in. For poles, one suggestion is to use lengths of standard 3/4 inch gas pipe. If it will be children throwing, you might want to just balance the coconuts straight on top of the pole without a cup to make it easy for them.

 

Aunt Sally

Along similar lines, the Oxfordshire pub game Aunt Sally, is another good idea for a fair. We sell the doll, swivel iron, sticks and a special Aunt Sally backdrop. The backdrop is quite expensive and requires a frame to be made so is more for serious Aunt Sally players. However, if you can hang up an old carpet or sheet of some kind, then the only other piece of equipment needed is a pole and again, a length of 3/4 inch gas pipes is ideal for this purpose...

 

Knur and Spell

Less well known but equally suitable for a village fete or other public event like this is the sport of Knur and Spell. In this game, a ball is balanced on a little see-saw called a Spell or Trap and this is used to shoot the ball up into the air whereupon it is bashed as hard as possible down the field.

It's just a case of who can hit it the furthest so for a school fete, you might want to have a competition for each age-group and present the winner with a prize at the end of the day.

We sell the necessary Bat, Trap and Ball and all you need is a large open area and someone to fetch the balls!

 

Skittles

There is nothing quite like the sight of a Skittles alley or Skittles table to generate a bit of enthusiasm amongst adults and youngsters at any event - everyone wants to have a go. James Masters, the owner of Masters Traditional Games, regularly takes his Northamptonshire Skittles table along to the summer fair at his local school and it's the most popular stall by far. A Skittles Table is ideal for a fair, indoors or outdoors, because you don't need to construct anything to catch the pins, balls or cheeses and it's less effort to reset the pins each time.

That said, a Skittles Table is very expensive so normal alley skittles are a more common and practical option for most fairs. Bear in mind that the pin diamond will need to have a backdrop of straw bales or some other wall to catch the pins and balls/cheeses and you will also need a "sticker" - a volunteer to reset the pins after each turn...

Finally, the game can be played on grass as long as there aren't too many bumps but the flatter the surface, the better the result will be. You might wish to consider playing Long Alley skittles where instead of rolling balls, the balls or cheeses are hurled the length of the alley directly onto the pins. That way, you won't need to worry about the alley surface at all.

 

Quoits

The final idea that is provenly successful at a fair is the game of Quoits.

Real steel quoits is the most traditional option but they are really heavy and only suitable for adults. (Proper Steel Quoits are played using clay pits but "Sward Quoits" is just the same game with the target stake stuck into a a lawn or other grassy area). They make a great spectacle and a crowd of spectators will soon gather so safety must be the first priority. The game is usually played with 2 ends and 2 players but it's easy to convert this to a single stake and some kind of competition for the person who get the best score.

Where there will be children or where steel quoits are otherwise inappropriate, an excellent alternative is Evesham Quoits, a miniaturised version of the outdoor game that is a traditional pub game around Wales and West England. Although it is designed as an indoor game, it works perfectly well out of doors and the scoring system lends itself very well a "top score wins a prize" type competition at a fair.

 

 

Do Let us know if you think there's something missing from this list.

 

 

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