Third time lucky? Old Baising 02-Dec

So, this Christmas fayre took place in a beautiful location; the Tudor Great Barn in Old Baising. This event was much bigger than my village fayre, with expected footfall of around 650 people, two choirs and a Tudor court reenactment – you could even go sit on Henry VIII’s lap and get a present as though he was Father Christmas.

This fayre was much bigger, so I could expect to do at least as well as previous events, right?

Well, no, not so much. I sold a grand total of nothing today.

To be perfectly honest, the event was pretty rubbish over all. The main reason for this was the location. The building has a very colourful history, which is interesting and all, but it is easy to overlook the practical side of this building’s history. Part of this building’s original purpose was to store food – before the invention of the fridge. And let me tell you, it is very good at keeping things cold. So good that we were going outside, into the British countryside in December, just to get warm. Everyone who knew what they were getting themselves into was wrapped up as if they were on an arctic expedition, with super snow boots, thermals and some serious looking coats. The rest of us, who had thought that ‘indoor’ meant ‘not arctic’ were dancing and stomping around, doing anything we could just to keep the frostbite at bay. They use this barn for weddings and civil ceremonies – I can only say that if you plan to use this venue, your wedding had better be Eskimo themed.

Not only was the setting arctic, but our pitch was out in the sticks. The barn was laid out with stalls all around the edges, a line of central stalls and clear space at the ends by the doors. In that clear space by the entrance, they had performances by two different choirs throughout the day, along with appearances from the reenactors, and heat generating candy floss and mulled wine stands.

At the far end, by the exit, there was nothing. Nothing but four stands; a stinky cheese stand, a beer stand, a wooden nicknacks stand and us.

The lack of activity down our end meant that it was noticeably colder than at the other end, and people just didn’t bother coming all the way down. Those that did didn’t stay long. Nearly everyone I spoke to brought up how damned cold it was down here and those that made purchases made them fast. I lost feeling in my toes before lunch, and I didn’t get it back until we were in the car on the way home, blasting the heater.

We were also in a really dark little corner, with no lights. So, our stand was lit only by the sparkly, battery powered Christmas lights that the ever resourceful Ali uses in her display. They’re a great enhancement to a Christmas decoration display, but they’re not so good at lighting the entire stand. We didn’t even have a power supply, so we couldn’t have put up a lamp, even if we had thought to take one.

Despite the arctic conditions, rubbish layout and lack of information from the organisers, the day was not completely wasted. For one, it was another learning experience, for another, I got talking to some more interesting people.

The couple running the beer stand were really interesting, and highlight my earlier point of talk to everyone. He was a retired soldier with so many interesting stories, and a real passion for brewing. She was a teacher with a lot of useful advice about running stalls at these kind of events.

Apart from a deeper understanding of the brewing process than I ever anticipated obtaining, we also learnt some interesting lessons about the Christmas fayre scene:

• There are fayres where you just don’t sell stuff. This happens and there’s not much you can do about it. Don’t let it get you down.
• Where you sit can make a real difference. There’s not a lot you can do about the location you are allocated (well, maybe there is if you book early enough, but we have organised all this in the last month) but being on the well beaten track definitely gives you an advantage.
• What other people are selling does impact you. This is why some shows will screen their stalls based on what they’re selling. If you have direct competition, there’s not a lot you can do except adjust your expectations. Especially if you’re in a bad location.
• Check the resources and facilities available at the venue with the organiser ahead of time. That way, you know what to expect and what to prepare for.

We also did better on the photographs, here’s our stand:

Here’s the venue (notice the people in coats!):

Overall, it was a rubbish day. I can’t say I’d particularly recommend the event or the location, not because I had a bad day, but because it was so flipping freezing that it took all the fun out of it for everyone. But after the good run I’ve been having, it was pretty grounding to have a rubbish day.

But this was only the second one I attended, so it really only counts as round 2, right?