Battle of the Fairs in East Prawle

East Prawle is getting two events for the price of one this year, with both the Prawle Fair and the East Prawle Festival taking place in the village tomorrow, Sunday, 24 May. 

A tradition going on more than 100 years, local committee voting, location changes and two events taking place in one small village on the same day feels like the ingredients for a lunchtime TV drama that leads to a small, but very polite, riot and a suspicious death of one of the main protagonists. 

Cue lots of gasping and they invite Poirot or Barnaby in and it all gets solved in 25 minutes. Here in the South Hams though its all much more relaxed and community-minded. 

The Prawle Fair has its roots more than a century ago, with the traditional raising of the glove, and the "sights, sounds and laughter of a proper village fête", including fancy dress, maypole dancing, the 'Knobbly Knees, 'Andsome Ankles' competition, animals, swing boats and Tug of War. 

Prawle Fair

For the last 30-ish years, this has taken place on the village green, outside the Pigs Nose Inn. This year, with constraints on the size of the green and the bumpy and sloping site, a vote was taken and the decision was made to move the event to the cricket pitch on the north side of the village. 

The only issue was for the Pigs Nose Inn and the nearby Piglet Cafe, who do a roaring trade that weekend, enough to sustain them through the quiet winter months. In order to counter that, more events and live music were planned for the now vacant village green, leading to the creation of the East Prawle Festival. 

The Prawle Fair has its roots more than a century ago - Prawle Fair

Tudor Brown, chair of the Prawle Fair Committee, explained that the Prawle Fair, which raises money for the village hall and other village causes, was outgrowing its village green location.

He said: "With building expansion on one side, the area was getting squashed and tight. The ground is on a slope and bumpy and was a bit of a trip hazard, so we voted to move it to the cricket pitch on the north side of the village. There we have the use of a large private field, its big and flat and a safer space for everyone and we can put on a bigger event. 

"We are providing the parking, which will keep the cars out of the village and the pub are putting on an alternative event and a land train to help people move around." 

Kieran Guilfoyle, one of the East Prawle Festival organisers, explained that the festival was being organised by the same Pigs Nose and Piglet Cafe teams but is a stand alone event and being run as a not-for-profit. 

"Moving the fair off the village green and to the cricket pitch makes sense" Kieron explained, "but both the pub and the cafe depend heavily on that weekend, and we have for 30 years. Having a good Prawle Fair weekend means we can be open for the locals in January and February. 

"So we came up with the idea to create an event to compliment the Prawle Fair, not step on any toes. Something to add on, not take away. This year will be a trial year to see how it all works and hopefully more people come up the village because there will be more going on. 

"The car park keeping cars out of the village makes sense, and too many cars in our small village has been a problem for a while. The car park is being organised by the fair and we have organised a land train to transport people from the car park to the green and back again."

The land train, organised by the festival, is hoped to not only transport people to the festival site, but also back to the fair site too. 

Kieran continued: "The village is not big, it takes five minutes to walk from one end to the other, but we want to encourage a genuine connection between the two events and helping people move around the village easier, as well as it being a fun thing for people to be able to do."

The East Prawle Festival have brought on sponsors, including the pub and cafe, covering the costs of live music, fun land rides, bird of prey displays, and circus experience, and any money raised by the bouncy castle and the land train will be distributed to local charities. 

"The event is not making money for the pub", explained Kieran, "apart from bringing people to the village who will then buy drinks here, but the money from the actual event will be distributed between charities that serve East Prawle or the people who live here. We haven't narrowed down which ones yet because we don't know how much will be there to donate, but that is where it is going."

So if both of these events seem like your idea of fun, and you want to be able to take advantage of both a truly traditional village fete and live music and stalls, you better get down to both the Prawle Fair and the East Prawle Festival, both of which start at 12.30pm. 

Whichever you end up spending most of your time, there will be an after party at the pub with live music from Frankie & Friends, a "relaxed but lively" to the days festivities. 

Find out more about the events on their listings:

Prawle Fair - https://www.southhams.com/events/south-hams-may-events/prawle-fair 

Prawle Festival - https://www.southhams.com/events/south-hams-may-events/east-prawle-festival 

After Party - https://www.southhams.com/events/south-hams-may-events/prawle-fair-after-party-feat-frankie-and-friends