Community shows up in the thousands at Summer Fayre

19 June 2014

On Sunday 15 June, Oaklands College welcomed over 7,000 visitors to celebrate summer at its annual Summer Fayre. 

The free to enter event, held at the picturesque St Albans Campus, came back bigger and better than years before with more stalls including food from around the world, arts and crafts, charities, live music, a fun fair and much more. 

Oaklands College students and staff added to the highlights of the day with an Art, Fashion and Design show, pony rides, tank rides, brickwork demos, face-painting, and performances from the Music and Performing Arts students.

Proving very popular with the public, and a new addition to this year’s line-up, was the sheep racing which saw three different breeds – Suffolk, Kerry and Texel – take part in a hurdle race drawing large crowds.  

Marquees held stalls selling everything from hand painted glass to jewellery and locally produced honey to spicy chutneys. Also on display were a number of local charities using the opportunity presented by the College to raise much needed funds. These charities included St Albans and District Cats Protection, Royal Veterinary College, Riding for the Disabled Association, Oxfam, Royal British Legion, RLNI and the College’s very own Springfield department which is raising funds for a hydrotherapy pool.

Crowds were also drawn to the falconry displays, sheep shearing demos, the stilt walkers, sporting games, tug of war, steam train rides and the dare devil children’s entertainer Rob Kilburn, who entertained children with his tricks fire breathing displays.

Zoe Hancock, Principal of Oaklands College, commented: “We were really delighted with how successful our Summer Fayre was this year, and have had some fantastic feedback. We think it is really important for the College to be at the heart of its community and hope that this year’s event, which had more going on than ever, demonstrates it.”