****Save the date! Bale Fete is back 2 to 4pm on Saturday 14th June 2025****


Review of Bale Fete – June 2024

Saturday the 1st June 2024 heralded the arrival of the great British ‘Summer’ and with it, the Bale Fete 2024. With the weather being decidedly non-summer-like leading up to the fete, the day itself stayed dry, if blowy, so the weather gods were kind to us.

Thank you once again to Walter for all his hard work and for hosting the fete in his beautiful gardens. A better venue would be hard to find.

The excellent Cromer & Sheringham brass band were yet again on hand to provide the quintessential soundtrack to a British summer fete, with plenty of ‘oomph-pa-pa.

Attendance was good and the tea, cake, sandwiches, strawberries and produce stalls were a huge hit… strategically placed as they were to entice visitors on arrival.

I must admit I did partake of a flapjack, and it was delicious indeed.

Over on the tombola stall, Sarah and I were overwhelmed by the amount of people that came over to have a go. By the end of the day, not a solitary prize was left on the table. This was mainly the result of children having close access to Granny, Mum or Dad’s money, to feed their dedication/addiction to bagging those stupendous prizes.

The look on one little girl’s face, after winning a scented candle, was rather amusing, as she very politely declared that she would give it to her Mum. We wondered next year
if we should have a separate children and adults tombola and really expand that revenue stream.

The windy conditions did make opening the trap door on the tombola a little challenging and there was more than one occasion where we were chasing airborne raffle tickets amongst the brass band. They may have thought we were performing a very avant-garde Maypole dance.

The other stalls all did incredibly well. The white elephant stall, run by Ali, was a particularly fine example of commerce in motion, as no one left empty handed.

The final amount raised from the event exceeded expectations and will go towards helping the running of All Saints Church and Bale Village Hall.

A great effort by all in Bale. Well done everyone.

Written by Rebecca Withey (Taken from Local Lynx Issue 157 – Aug/Sep 2024)