Published on 04 Nov 2021 | Topics: #GreatAytonNews
Great Ayton Christmas Fayre has a magical and interesting history as to where it has come from and how it has progressed.
2016
An incredible and outstanding success was achieved by Great Ayton Business Forum's very first Great Ayton Christmas Fayre held on Saturday 26th November 2016. It is the first major event organised by the forum since the success achieved by the Tour de Yorkshire 2016 which passed through Great Ayton at the beginning of May and saw great profits made by local businesses.
The Christmas Fayre saw a staggering 1000 + visitors, some local and others from much further afield. Visit Great Ayton assited in the promotion and advertising for the event which received a great response from the general public on social media and through the visitgreatayton.com website.
The fayre consisted of the Christmas tree light switch-on by a very special visitor from the North Pole, entertainment from local singing group, 'The Angrove Singers', singer-songwriter Abi Alton and sword dancing, children's rides, festive stalls and refreshments. Visitors took to social media post-event to describe how much they enjoyed their afternoon, what a great community spirit was present and what a great asset the fayre was to the village of Great Ayton.
There were three competitions organised, two by the Great Ayton Business Forum - School Santa Colouring Competition and the Angel Trail and one by Visit Great Ayton which consisted of raffle tickets in goody bags handed out on the day.
2017
Following-on from the outstanding success of Great Ayton Christmas Fayre 2016 - Great Ayton Business Forum made a come-back, with the support of and marketing/promotion by Visit Great Ayton, to provide a bigger, better and more sparklier event for all!
(Former X-Factor contender Abi Alton singing at the Christmas Fayre 2017)
The festive stalls were held in a 40 x 35' event tent, similar to the ones used at Stokesley Show, which allowed more stalls and increased the variety of products available for purchase. The new arrangement made space on the High Green for more activites for children and teenagers and for local community groups and schools to promote themselves and their great work.
(Father Christmas arriving in style at Great Ayton Christmas Fayre 2016)
The format behind the fayre was to hold a festive, public event which shows the essence of Great Ayton, its community spirit and incredible history, all whilst increasing footfall to the village. The 2017 event saw the footfall over double to 2000+ visitors on the day.
(Leven Sword showing the public how longsword dancing is done at the Christmas Fayre 2017)
2019
After a hiatus in 2018 due to lack of support and volunteers, Great Ayton Business Forum decided not to go ahead with the the Christmas Fayre and the business support group sadly decided to go into dormancy.
After deliberation, Great Ayton Parish Council and Visit Great Ayton decided to revive the Christmas Fayre as co-organisers in 2019.
Based on a similar structure and changes made based on feedback from previous Christmas Fayre's, the event was a big success with nearly 2.8k visitors that day.
Sadly the fayre could not go ahead in 2020 due to obvious reasons, however, it has been revived again in 2021 by Great Ayton Parish Council with Visit Great Ayton as event promoters.