Despite the current economic climate Rotary’s first pre-Christmas Fair has been deemed a successful one by both stall holders and the public.
Due to Covid restrictions earlier this year, South Wairarapa Rotary were only able to hold one Martinborough Fair at the end of April. This has meant that the amount of money available for the Rotary committees to distribute throughout the South Wairarapa was, in effect, halved. For this reason, the decision was made to run an additional Fair during 2022, hence the November Fair came to fruition.
We were convinced that this Fair, before Christmas, would be an excellent time for people to purchase some unique gifts for friends and family and we weren’t wrong.
An unofficial estimate of approximately 20,000 people descended on Martinborough on Saturday 26 November and were able to enjoy the food, entertainment and of course, shopping from the over 500 stalls.
The day was warm but not hot which made for an enjoyable environment for experiencing this unique Fair, one of the largest in New Zealand.
For Rotarians, the day begins very early. At 5.30am we meet at the Fire Station prior to commencing the marshalling of stallholder traffic and assisting stallholders to find their allocated spaces. Unbelievably many of the stalls had already begun setting up earlier in the morning and were well underway with their preparations for the day. One stall holder I talked to found her allotted space on Friday afternoon parked her car on it and then slept overnight in her car so as to beat the rush in the morning.
Rotary has an information gazebo in the Square and we are kept very busy all day assisting stallholders and shoppers with queries, directions, lost children and property. Our other all-day duty is to check the rubbish bins and empty those that are full.
This year South Wairarapa Rotary and the Martinborough Business Association ran a competition for the Best Dressed Christmas Themed stall. Many of the stall holders made an effort to pimp up their stalls, but the winner – WildChix Muesli of Clareville made an extraordinary effort with their vehicle, stall and clothing. Runner up was Ronz Furniture Hospital from Dannevirke, who dressed themselves and their stall in a Christmas theme.
The morning was very busy with lots of people milling around the stalls and food trucks – crowds peaking around lunchtime. One of the most popular food stalls is the one selling Rosti, with the queue for this tasty delight beginning around 7.00am and carrying on until well after the lunch time rush. Who thought a potato could be made to taste that good!!
South Wairarapa Rotary will be running the usual two Fairs in February and March 2023 and preparations are well underway for these two events. We feel incredibly proud that we can provide our South Wairarapa community with assistance in the form of grants, bursaries and donations – the proceeds of which come annually from the running of these two Fairs.
If you would like more information about the Fair or other fund-raising activities of the South Wairarapa Rotary Club or wish to be part of the work we do in the community, please contact Glenn Todd our Club Committee Director on 027 458 3789.
