Fete Archives - Mousevaarks

May Day Fun!

Well, it’s May Bank Holiday tomorrow, and you know what that means? Yes! We’re having our May Day fete and fair! Here we are ready to enjoy it all.

Here’s Matilda with her popcorn machine. Micro and Nano are being a bit cautious, they remember how it overflowed before! But Matilda says she’s got the hang of it now.

So they decide to share a bucket of popcorn. That’ll keep them going for a while.

Gino is running the ice cream stand again. Dim says can he have a strawberry cone with a flake please?

Oh, how nice! The ice cream is for Matilda, it’s her favourite flavour and she’s too busy to go and get one.

Gosh, Matilda IS busy, she’s running the candy floss stand too!

Hypno does like candyfloss! Even if he does end up a bit sticky.

Fury can never decide what to have from the Burger Box. Vincent’s looking after it, and suggests she has one of everything?

Arnold of course is always thinking of safety, so he’s checking that Peggy’s tea stall has had the kettle PAT tested.

Hello Winston, says Bernard. No priceless Greek Urns on your bric-a-brac stall today eh? Nah, says Winston, I’ve run out. I mean, no, I’ve not found another one.

Ah, now, games! Ernest is having a go at the Hoop-La. 3 rings please Esther!

Hup! Oh, sorry Esther!

Hup! Oh, sorry Nano! Although you make a good prize!

Right, last hoop, better make this count. Oi! Ernest, that’s cheating!

Right Ernest, let’s have a go at the Tombola. Five tickets please! Oh. I never win!

Winston says business is slow on the the pistachio shy. Arnold says it’s because everyone knows the nuts are glued to the poles!

Well, now, this is new. Madame Fortuna? I wonder what it means? Oh, Ofelia, it’s you! What’s that, you’ve started Fortune Telling? Goodness!

Well! Once word got round, everyone wants their fortune told. There’s such a queue, Arnold is on duty marshalling!

Well, it’s very dark in here. And Madame Fortuna’s crystal ball is glowing very strangely! She told me something, but said I wasn’t to tell anyone else!

Winston is very pleased. Madame Fortuna told him she can see the word Millionaire! Which is odd, because that’s what.. oh. No. I mustn’t say.

Whatever she told Arnold, he’s shocked!

Nano wouldn’t say what she told him, but he said the crystal ball was quite mesmerising and he’ll buy one when he’s a millionaire. Hmmmm.

Now that we all know our fortunes, it’s time for the Maypole Dance!

Round and Round they go! Until… Well, they can’t go any further! Better let go!

Next we settle down to watch Peggy’s Puppet Show. We love this. We always cheer the goodies and boo the baddies!

Finally for the Fete, it’s our Morris dancing troupe! Look how they bash those staves, and jingle their bells as they dance!

Dim always enjoys this, playing the fool and bopping everyone with his balloon on a stick. He makes sure to be very gentle with Nano!

Well, we have enjoyed our fete! But the fun isn’t over yet. We’ve got the a fair to go to later!

All the fun of the fete!

Hello! Welcome to our Bank Holiday Fete! I hope we’re all going to have a lot of fun!

We’ve got all the usual attractions – Winston’s catering outlets, candy floss and lots of games and competitions.

Ratvaark looks at a burger stall, a donut stand and an icecream van

Esther looks at a stand selling sticks of candyfloss

Arnold and Hypno look at a coconut shy (with pistacios for coconuts), a guess the weight of the cake stall and a tombola

Oh, here’s a new attraction for this year, a hoop-la stand! Fury’s going to have a go…

Fury and Nano look at a brightly coloured hoopla stand

Fury has a hoop over her snozzle ready to throw

Oh! Well, you haven’t won a prize, but you have won Nano!

Peggy is minding the “Guess the Weight of the Cake” stand this year. Micro is asking whether it’s metric or imperial. She says it’s Victoria sponge, so probably Imperial.

Bernard is very interested in something on Winston’s bric a brac stall. Is it the fishing rod, or the umbrella?

Oh, no, it’s the pot they are sitting in. He asks Winston where he got it. Winston said it came in a job lot and it was handy for storing tall things.

Bernard is looking closely at a painted urn

Bernard and Winston are looking at a painted terracotta urn

Bernard says he thinks it might be quite old and valuable and Winston should get it checked out at the museum. It might be a Greek Urn!

What’s a Greek Urn? said Winston. “About 10 drachmas a day!” chipped in Vincent. They all laughed, but Bernard said they really ought to find out about the urn.

Now, it’s time for the Maypole dance! We do enjoy this. We go round and round, in and out, in ancient intricate patterns until we all meet in the middle. Now, how’s that?

Six vaarks have a ribbon each and dance round the pole

Oh. Well, it might not be Quite Right, but it was fun.

On to the next entertainment, the Morris Dancers! Hypno is playing accordion. He couldn’t find his boater, so I lent him my fez.

Four vaarks are dressed in tunics and sashes, with bells on their snozzles

Hypno is playing the accordian and wearing a fez

Round and round, in and out they go, with Dim playing the fool in the middle. Oh look! Nano’s joining in for a ride!

The morris dancers dance around Dim, who wears black and carries a balloon on a stick.

After all that exertion, we sat down to watch Peggy’s puppet show. All except Hypno and Arnold, who have to go and fetch something they’ve arranged.

Oh, what a surprise! What fun! Hypno’s made some funny photo boards! He’s going to take our pictures!

Look at me! How do you like my costume! And Esther, that’s quite some bikini! This is so much fun!

Ratvaark is looking through an image of a skinny man in an old stripy bathing costume

We are all enjoying this!

Nano says it’s all very well, but he can’t reach!

Oh! It’s ok! Hypno has thought of Nano, he has his own little window!

Nano has stuck his head through a little hole in the middle of a crab on the beach

Oh hello Micro, what’s that? You’ve arranged something yourself? Good grief! A high diving platform!

Oh gosh, up he goes! Up and Up! So high!

The vaarks gather round the pool as Micro climbs the ladder

He’s right at the top! Surely he’s not going to.. Yes, he’s dived!

Micro sits on the top of the diving board

Oh! A parachute! Look at him gliding down! How clever! Such a soft landing!

Part way down, a parachute opens over Micro.

Micro lands gently in a pool of polystyrene packing

Well that was exciting. But you know, I think I could do that jump. Well, no-one’s looking now…

Here we go!

Whoops! Sorry everyone!

Well, it’s getting on, so it’s time for the best bit of our fete – the street party feast! Peggy is bringing over the Victoria Sponge cake.

Ratvaark stand next to a long table with a white cloth on it

Ofelia and Bernard have made rhyming sandwiches – jam, spam and Edam! Matida’s jelly is spectacular. And Winston and Vincent rustled up some little buns.

Bernard and ofelia put some plates of sandwiches on the table

Matilda brings a tall multicoloured jelly

Ernest has brought jugs of squash, and Fury made some toffee apples!

Fury has a plate of bright red apples on sticks

Goodness. Esther did some research into WW2 and read about how they used to give children carrots on sticks, instead of lollies! She’s made enough for us all apparently. Oh good.

Still Ernest got a funny shaped one, which made us all laugh!

Well, we have had a lovely day, and this is a feast to round it all off. We’ll be enjoying ourselves for hours. I hope you’ve had a good day too!

All the fun of the fete!

Well, we’re very excited, it’s time for our May fete! We’ve got all the usual food and snack concessions set up.

Gino is minding the ice cream van and Vincent’s taken charge of the Burger Box. Winston’s got so many enterprises he can’t run them all.

In fact, Winston has really gone up a step – he’s got himself a market barrow, selling antiques and second hand stuff.

Fury’s spotted a really decent drill for her toolbox, and Microvaark is very pleased with his bicycle. Bernard said he didn’t know Microvaark could even ride a bicycle!

Ofelia is looking after the donuts. When Nano asked for some and she asked “How many?” he said “Five of course!” Esther, who is a bit controlled than some, is supervising the Guess the Weight of the Cake stall. Fury offered to help if the cake turned out to be too heavy….

Winston had to do a quick run round when Tessa showed an interest in the Pistachio Shy, but it turned out she was just wondering about his spelling. Someone had already told her the nuts were glued on…

tessa looks at the pistachio shy as winston talks to her

Alan had a go on the tombola and was very pleased when he drew the winning ticket!

Peggy and Mary are running the teas, and… oh hello Dim, you’re looking after the Candy Floss this year? Where’s Matilda? What’s that, she’s got a new enterprise?

Oh! A POPCORN stand! That’s amazing. There was soon a big long queue for popcorn and Matilda was worried she might run out.

So she turned the heat up a bit. There, now it’s popping nicely. Er… Maybe a bit TOO nicely. Run!

Phew, it’s run out of corn and stopped! Winston’s in a flap though, he’s lost his hat in there! But then we realised something even worse. Nanovaark’s in there too!

Ernest quickly stuck his snozzle in, and rooted about sniffing. Thankfully, he soon found Nano, who was sheltering in Winston’s hat. He said he thought he wouldn’t have any more popcorn for a while please. All’s well, as Matilda sweeps up!

After all that excitement, we sat down to enjoy the Punch and Judy show. Nano made sure he got a good view, and Arnold could hardly even feel his weight.

Next it was time for the Morris Dancers. Dim played the Fool as usual, and Hypno played the accordion.

As ever, we’re having a traditional Maypole dance. Can we make it two years running without getting tangled up? Oh Ernest, I don’t think it needs steadying. Whoops! Oh dear, we did it again.

Once we’d freed Ernest, a little voice said “ There’s a good view from up here!” Oh Nano, get down!!

Of course, after the fete, we always have the funfair! Arnold has brought along his Test Your Strength machine, and he’s changed into his Grandfather’s circus strongman leotard. Nano is impressed.

Tessa had a go and did very well, but Arnold was a bit alarmed when Fury insisted on using her Flipping Big Hammer!

Everyone giggled at their reflections in the Hall of Mirrors and Dim and Matilda enjoyed a romantic swing on the swingboat.

Ernest was hard at work turning the ladle-go-round. Look at it go! Look at Ofelia’s ears waving in the wind!

Of course, we are very excited this year to have our Ferris Wheel, which was a mystery present from an anonymous friend. Fury has even arranged a steam traction engine to turn it!