The Essential Aspects You Should Remember if You are Organising and Planning a School Fair 

There is no event that schoolchildren, parents and teachers look forward to more than school fairs or fetes, and these events garner a lot of excitement and attention from other people in the community as well. But organising one is no small feat, and you’d want to be sure that you’ve thought of everything and every factor has been remembered and considered, so your event goes as planned and without any hitch. But one of the foremost aspects you need to remember is that you need to form a special committee for it – and this committee should help you with the various details of organising your fair, and they should be on-hand and on-board on the months, weeks, and days leading up to the event – and especially the event day itself. But what other aspects should you remember if you are organising and planning a school fair? Following are the essential aspects you should always keep in mind.

• Form your committee with care

The planning involved in school fairs is quite extensive, but it all begins with the right and proper committee. Before you do anything else, form a good committee that will remain committed to organising and coming up with a wonderful and unforgettable school fair. Needless to say, they should be enthusiastic and available – because even if they are all excited about the event, they should be able to set aside time for it. It pays to organise your committee at least six months in advance, and hold regular committee meetings once a month initially. But as you get nearer to the date, hold meetings at least once a week and as the date gets closer, hold your meetings once a day so everyone is fully informed about the goings-on.

If there is another committee that planned your school fair the previous year, ask for their advice when possible. They could give you the best insight into potential problems or difficulties, and they can offer you a wealth of knowledge as well. When you’ve formed your committee, choose a chairperson as well as a secretary and treasurer. Everyone must play a clear role within the committee, so select your coordinators for aspects like security, electricity, food and beverage, entertainment or stall hire, contests/competitions, publicity (including the creation of signage and the promotion of your event online), first aid, and sponsorships.

• Decide on the entertainment

One of the best things you could do for your school fair is to decide on a theme – and entertainment will naturally follow. For instance, if you have a country theme, your entertainment could include games such as tug-of-war, hay tossing contests, and strongman stalls and other country-themed games. If you opt for a summer theme, you can have picnic benches and bunting, lots of outdoor games and activities, and great funfair rides, which you can get from funfair hire experts like https://www.wearetricycle.co.uk/.

These experts can help you set up the best rides and game booths for your school fair, and they’ll make sure to provide you with skilled operators as well. With help from an expert, you can have peace of mind and the knowledge that your entertainment and rides are safe.

But here’s another aspect about your entertainment that you should make sure of: have an MC or two. Try to get volunteers to be your MCs during the fair, and they can facilitate the activities and ask everyone to watch or participate. It’s vital to have a proper sound system, of course, and make sure that everyone can hear it across the entire grounds or site. Give your MCs a list of the different stalls you have for your school fair so the MCs can promote those stalls and offer specials or promos, announce raffles and contests, and more.

Think about assigning entertainment to different classes, clubs, or groups as well. If every class has a performance (whether it’s a song and dance routine, etc), a lot more families will turn out. You can also arrange performances with your school’s music or theatre groups, for example. You can also work with your local area or community’s clubs or businesses for displays and exhibits.

• Focus on publicity

Publicity is another crucial aspect of any school fair, and you’d need to get exposure for your fair and spread the word to your local area or community. For this, you should appoint a coordinator focused on publicity to strategically promote the fair. Many community-based newspapers are willing to provide free ads for various events like school fairs, and you can also invite other schools in the area to go to your fair.

Check your local area for individuals with PR or media contacts, and look for a good printing company to print your school fair posters. If you want, you can even arrange to give a big raffle prize for attendees. Your newsletter could serve as an essential tool for promotion and publicity, and it’s a good idea to include an additional sheet for promoting your fair. It’s best to begin your publicity efforts way ahead of the actual date of the fair so you can focus on promoting one stall per week. If there are any business sponsors, promote them within your newsletter and offer great prizes to classes with a substantial collection of donations. There are also plenty of radio stations that have a hotline for the community, and they can promote your fair for free as well.

Your school fair can be as fantastic as possible with the proper planning and foresight, but make sure everyone – from the coordinators to the parents to the students and the local community – is on board, and get them excited about the event and what it can bring. Once the event is over, there’s one other thing you can do: hold a reception for those who helped out – it’s an excellent way to use up any food leftovers and can also show everyone you appreciate all their efforts. You should also make it a point to write thank-you notes to any business or organisation that helped or donated funds or prizes.