Hey guys!
I just want to say a huge thank you to all the Staff, Volunteers, Vendors and members of the public who attended Newquay Community Orchard’s Spring Fayre 2019 last month.
The whole team had been working hard meticulously planning the day’s festivities in the weeks and months ahead, and I can safely say that it was 100% worth all the hard work.
Showcasing some real beauties
The sun was shining and the vibe was buzzing as a vast number of local businesses, performers and charities convened on site for the Orchard’s annual event. We officially opened the Fayre at 11am, with a crowd growing pretty much straight away, eventually reaching an even bigger number of attendees than previous, with over 2400 people in attendance throughout the day and a number of different stalls selling produce. There was a huge selection of things made, grown, produced and designed in our beautiful county, as well as several more ‘hands on’ activities for people to get involved with.
“It’s been a lovely day, the plant store looked epic with all the plants that the volunteers have grown and The Grow Space looked amazing, I’ve heard nothing but positive comments from people just saying how brilliant the whole site looked, I’m really really chuffed!” (Hetty, Head of Horticulture at NCO)
This included live music, storytelling, yoga, Bushcraft/fire making, woodwork, arts and crafts, horticulture, foraging and even a live parkour performance!
The event showcased some really cool and interesting aspects of our local Cornish economy, with a vast number of different eco-friendly businesses all on site doing varying demonstrations, samples, tastes, and offering information on a whole host of Kernow made produce.
Things like ‘Bee Bricks’ by Perranporth based company Green & Blue, who’s sleek looking brick design creates a perfect habitat for the local Bee population. And eco-friendly cleaning products from Innoscent Cleaning, who’s all natural, non-toxic products eradicate 99% of harmful bacteria, without using any harmful chemicals that would be dangerous to ourselves, our environment or our seas.
There was also Bee Bump Surf Wax & Super Tube designs, who make surf wax from their very own beehives, as well as some pretty cool artwork and surf/skate style clothing. (I myself purchased some of this wax for my board!)
This is just a tiny example of some of the producers and products that were at the Orchard on the day. There were 28 Stalls in total, all made up of Cornish food producers, artists and makers, as well as 10 partner organisations, 5 food & beverage vendors and 9 different local entertainment and activity providers.
One of the day’s main highlights for me personally came from ‘The Vinyl Collective’ guys, who were playing a nice contrast of different aural treats, from some nice liquid Drum & Bass to Deep Housey stuff and everything in between. There was even a little tease of a Mr Scruff tune here or there, which provided a perfect summer vibe for all to hear as the sun blazed down upon many happy revellers.
The Cornish-made Ciders & Ales seemed to be a welcome addition and let’s not forget the Cornish Male vocalist legends ‘Oll An Gwella,’ the self-described ‘Song-Singing, Kernow-Loving, Smile-Raising …….… Beauties!’
“ We’ve been absolutely delighted to be here today, it’s got such a nice atmosphere about it. It’s all about promoting local things and the community as a whole, coming together I think is fantastic. It supports what we’re trying to do about keeping things local and natural and everyone else is doing things along the same lines. The weather has been ideal, couldn’t have asked for better I don’t think, and to see families sat out on the lawn with their dogs, having a pint of local cider, to me is just superb, you can’t ask for better than that.” (Mark, Wasted Apple Company)
Sat in the sun hearing them sing about the travesty of a certain pasty (that shall remain nameless) in its three inch plastic bag sat on the shelf, as well as some of their other songs, including originals, a Beach Boys cover and the donation of £1000 check to a local charity – I’m sure this set will be one that people remember for a while. The boys were certainly an appropriate booking for The Orchard, and I look forward to hearing them on site again in the future. Perhaps even in our soon to be Amphitheatre, of which work begins this August!
Family Fun
As well as these vendors and artists, there for those music lovers and shoppers amongst us, there was also a variety of presentations and ‘hands on’ activities for the families and kiddies in attendance.
There was a foraging introduction, provided by master forager Emma Gunn, as well as Bushcraft activities on show in our Den space, demonstrated by Bushcraft leader Matt Tolson.
I spoke to Matt and he said that there will be future Bushcraft workshops on site that some of us volunteers will be able to get involved with – something else that I’m certainly looking forward to.
In addition to all this, there was family friendly arts and crafts, suitable for all ages, that was provided by Blystra Treehouse, as well as some really cool wood turning demonstrations from Duchy College Rosewarne.
“We’ve been here in the Making Marquee all day and it’s been awesome, we’ve had so many people come in and get creative as part of the ‘get creative Newquay’ workshop and we’ve brought Treehouse Newquay with us, which is a new playing arts café, selling lots of our amazing cakes, it’s been great.” (Liz , Blystra Art)
My other main highlight of the day was witnessing the first ever performance on the Amphitheatre ground, which was a narrative Performance Parkour show named Zoo Human. This was provided by St Austell’s ‘Urban Playground’ and these guys were on top of their game (in more ways than one!)
They performed all sorts of acrobatic style interpretive dance-esque balancing, handstands, flips and an assortment of gravity defying moves.
They even offered the chance for some of the huge crowd to try out some moves themselves once their performance had finished. Not only was this entertaining, but there were some very important points to be taken away from the narrative aspect of their performance, including the fact that, in the UK, some children spend less time outdoors playing or doing sports than the average prisoner! They even stated that some children will average around 2 – 3 hours of quality time outside playing over the whole 6 weeks of summer holidays!
To top it all off, their audio accompaniment featured samples of one of my all-time favourite Brits, the man himself, Sir David Attenborough.
A huge shout out
As well as all of the artists, performers, vendors and attendees of this year’s Spring Fayre, a huge shout out needs to go to all the staff and volunteers that made this event a reality. To the many who have been on site in the months prior, anticipating this event by planning, making suggestions, getting the site ready and making sure that all avenues had been thought of and prepared for – and of course those who were there on the day shouting about the Orchard.
All the volunteers on site were ready to answer any queries the public may have had, and we were all able to showcase our knowledge and passion on any of the subjects that some attendees may have requested more info on. Much of this seemed second nature to us and we were well placed to share what we have gained from our time at Newquay Community Orchard.
I went around and interviewed numerous vendors and staff, asking them to give me their thoughts on the day and any comments on the Orchard in general.
As to be expected, there was nothing but praise for all involved in this inarguable success of The Newquay Community Orchard’s 2019 Annual Spring Fayre!
“What an amazing day, we’re absolutely proud of everyone that’s contributed, it’s been one of the biggest successes we’ve ever had.” (Luke, Managing Director and Founder of NCO).
The Newquay Community Orchard Spring Fayre of 2019 was a complete success, with a lot of vendors, customers and visitors (both a human and canine) all enjoying our site and sharing their praises.
So after the Orchard’s busiest and most popular event thus far, plus work beginning on the Amphitheatre this August, I think we can safely say that our events are only going to increase in scale and regularity, and there shall be many more Fayres to come.
Harry
Orchard Blogger
