Your Guide to a ‘Cracking’ Christmas Fair – Part 1!

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Your Guide to a ‘Cracking’ Christmas Fair – Part 1!

Christmas is a traditional time of the year for everyone to get together for charitable events. One of the most popular ones for schools is the annual Christmas fair! They’re also a great place for parents to buy gifts and decorations for Christmas.

Here’s a checklist to help you hold a cracking Christmas fair that will brighten up the faces of your guests with joy and raise lots of funds for your PTA.

You Need Volunteers

Establish who would like to volunteer at the event and help with arrangements beforehand. Ask all volunteers if they have any talents they could utilise for the event, and assign one or two volunteers to take the lead in organising the event.

Pick A Date And Time

Decide on a good date for the Christmas fair. Saturdays usually work well, but try to avoid booking it the same day as another local school if you can. Once you have the date, you can decide on the times. Over lunch (11 am to 2 pm) or early afternoon (2 pm to 4 pm) are very popular times.

One particular date to keep away from is the 12th December which is the General Election day.

Add A Sprinkle Of Fun With A Theme

To change things around each year, you could have a theme, i.e., Crafty Christmas, Winter Wonderland, or A Magical Christmas. Or, how about a traditional Christmas fair from a different era? Themes can help you make decisions later on by giving you a focus on other important decisions.

The Best Bits

Look back at your previous events and note down which stalls were highly popular and successful. Also, check if there were any complications with previous fairs. That way, at this year’s fair, you can exclude the stalls that didn’t work, improve anything that went a little wrong, and include the stalls that worked brilliantly, making this year’s fair event better than before! To help, perhaps you should talk to the teachers, parents, and even children to get their opinions.

Involve The Children

Talk to your teachers and the students about their contributions to the Christmas Fair. What could they make or personalise in class? Items made by children are often very popular as keepsakes and presents for parents to buy from the fair.

Involve The Local Community

Don’t be afraid to ask local businesses for donations to add to a raffle or other stalls at your fair. Companies are often happy to donate items to local good causes, especially if their good deeds are recognised in pre-event promotional materials.

Market Your Event

Start advertising your event early—at least 6 weeks before the event is ideal. Remember to continue reminding everyone about the event right up until the day before! Perhaps you could even hold certain details back with hints of big news (like prizes, surprise guests, or games at the event) until closer to the time. This prevents parents from forgetting and adds a little anticipation for the news, so parents don’t become bored with the marketing for the Christmas Fair.

Get An Event Kit

Have you thought about getting an event kit bag set up? It could include maps of where activities are at the fair, a timetable for events on the day, and other important news. While this is a cost for the event, it can also be a great way to collect sponsorships from local businesses, as they can add marketing materials to the bag for a small cost. It also helps your guests find the stalls and activities they are particularly looking for.

I hope this checklist gets you on your way to a Christmas fair that will be your most successful one yet!

If you’re looking for more ideas of stalls to hold at your fair, then download our free PTA Fundraising guide which holds over 28 ideas from A right through to Z!

Able Canopies Ltd. design, manufacture and install canopies and shade structures at schools, nurseries and educational settings to enable year-round Free Flow Outdoor Play and Outdoor Learning.
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Your Guide to a ‘Cracking’ Christmas Fair – Part 1!

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