What were the most profitable stalls at your school fete?

[EstoyRobandoSuCasa]

And what wasn't really worth the effort?

Five weeks to go until our summer fete and it's all kicked off (again) at the PTA. Most of the members who were supposed to be organising and running the stalls have walked away from the PTA entirely (sadly, not the two people that I wish would leave, but heigh ho).

A bouncy castle and fairground ride have already been booked and I think the catering is mostly sorted, including a cake stall. And the person in charge of the raffle is staying. So, we just need some games stalls and probably a few stalls selling products.

What would you recommend, bear in mind that the number of volunteers we'll have on the day is likely to be limited due to the Old Guard's talent for pissing them all off. I thought about running away as well, but my kids love the fete and the school needs the money.

I think it's fine to ask for donations on mufti days as long as they're voluntary and collected discreetly. Our school has asked children to bring in chocolate donations on non-uniform day before, but it's not as though anyone who can't afford to is expected to wear school uniform instead!

The school also held a disco earlier this year and asked for "a voluntary contribution" of £3 per child, which many people paid online. Most families paid one way or another, but some didn't and no one was turned away for not paying.

We do try to make the fete enjoyable for families on low incomes. Admission is always free, and any entertainment will be free to watch. Also, some of our games will cost 50p or less and our second-hand book and toy stalls normally have plenty of bargains.

Tombola!

I will be glad to give up the idea of making fresh lemonade and selling cans instead!

But maybe yes to selling ice-creams and lollies ourselves instead of booking an ice-cream van and I'll suggest hot dogs with fried onions.

That always does very well at our church fete, too.

Can you approach your local WI to see if they’d like a stall? Ours sells jam, chutneys etc.

I’ve never got the unscrewing of bottles out school do tickets ends with 0 bottle of mineral water and 5’s wine!!!
why put water into a glass bottle??

But do the jokes about Jesus's miracles get a bit repetitive. 😂

That's an idea that a few people have suggested as a good money-maker and we've never tried it before, so I'm tempted. We often have a bottle tombola though, so possibly don't need both.

Teddy tombola is popular. Ask children to donate (good condition) soft toys that are no longer wanted, pop a sticky label with a name on each one - the children love this! Get a class to help pick the names. Children pay to pick a named lolly stick out of a jar and win the teddy with that name on. Everyone gets a teddy. Some children will come back again and again.

Thank you all! I'm going to show my friend in the PTA this thread.

Teddy tombola

There are loads around the country, not just London. I know of ones in the South West and West Midlands.

I took my little Grandson to a Summer fair at the weekend & they had a little lockable cabinet with a prize inside. For £1 you got 3 keys to try opening the lock to win the prize. It was very popular. All you need to do is ask for donations of spare keys from all the childrens parents. Chose a lock with a regular key that most people will have spares of.

Ireland too and we have a winter fair rather than a summer one - it’s by far the biggest fundraising event on the school calendar and makes thousands.

Agree with PPs that a candy floss machine is a great earner.

We do have a Christmas Fair, but ours makes less than half of the money made at the Summer Fete. What do you have at yours?

I also like the idea of having a colour run. However, a large charity holds a big colour run every spring at the other end of town, so I’m not sure if it would be worth having a smaller one at our school. Perhaps it would work if we held it in autumn instead?

my ASD child spent about £10 trying to win the one teddy he wanted, luckily the teacher took pity on him and swopped the numbers. He’d won loads by this point but not ‘the one’

I do remember helping out at a fete as a teen and the next stall must have been a teddy tombola. When a two-year-old boy had a go but didn’t win a teddy, he burst into tears, snatched the teddy he wanted and did a runner. Oh dear!

@Besidemyselfwithworry because they had to weigh the same as a bottle of wine, you filled them with tap water. All bottles were wrapped in paper, so no one knew what was wine and what was water, you mixed them up on the table, paid a certain amount per guess, so you either got the water or yiu walked off with wine. Very popular stall, so was the adult tombola that had wine and spirits on it.

Did people choose to take their bottles of water home with them, or did they leave them behind?

We do bottles of mineral water as opposed to wine bottles full of water, so ours get taken home but I guess if people are doing this regularly maybe the PTA stash them for a future event?