Picton Street Fayre

The annual Picton Street Fayre was back in December 2022 after a twoyear break due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lord Mayor officially opened the 11th edition of the Fayre at 12pm on Saturday 10th December. The street was bursting with stalls selling locally-made goodies for Christmas shopping. A real benefit of the Fayre being the promotion of local crafts people, giving them an opportunity to display and sell their produce. Reports were that stalls did a roaring trade.

The music stage hosted a lovely and eclectic selection of live music for the public to enjoy and dance to. Highlights for me included the Ambling Band and the She Choir. All the local musicians and all volunteers gave their services for free.

Its hard but rewarding work which starts in May when all the applications for the event licence have to be submitted. Then there is the insurance, the stall booking, arranging toilets and first aid, getting the bands to play….

The list goes on!

A small group of local residents co-ordinates this but the event just wouldn’t happen without loads of people contributing something: from the people who can just do an hour’s stewarding to people who volunteer to do all the clearing up after the event (especially noteworthy as we missed the England France game!)

This year the Fayre raised a record breaking £4000 for local charities BOSH and Trauma Southwest through the sales of mulled drinks at the bar: “Drink for charity!” As the Lord Mayor commanded us.

“Trauma Foundation South West (TFSW) are hugely grateful for the donation of £2,000 raised at Picton Street Christmas Fayre. This money will make it possible for specialised TFSW psychotherapists and counsellors to provide 48 life-changing one-to-one weekly therapy sessions for traumatised refugees or asylum seekers, with interpreters.”

Bristol Outreach Services for The Homeless provides vital independent and bespoke service providing practical help and advice to homeless people. Their hub is based in Bond Street provides a warm, friendly space with an inviting café. BOSH Director Julie Dempster said “we are a small charity and don’t receive mainstream funding so donations like this are really important for us to deliver and develop our work” We always look to bring in new people with new ideas so if you are interested to get involved in next year’s event please get in touch. We particularly want to continue to develop the diversity of the event and really keen to hear from stall holders and performers from all our local communities. Contact pictonstreetfayre@gmail.com

Thanks to everyone that came down and supported us and all the amazing volunteers that organized and participated in the event. Special mention to local businesses who