REMINDER to register your teams early for the arena competitions:
* Tug of War
* Chuck the Royal Welly
* The Famous Finale
- And bring lots of supporters with you to cheer you along!
If you’re able to support the fair financially in any way, it’s easy - simply scan the QR code on any of the fair posters or the front of the programme to be taken directly to Paypal to make a donation. Thank you so much in advance - here’s to a great Fair Weekend!
Here’s just some of the scheduled events…
Friday 30th June
12.30pm – 2.30pm - TEDDY BEAR’S PICNIC
Bring your teddy and a picnic along to South Avenue Recreational Ground. Come along to enjoy a magic show, cake decorating and a craft activity, a carousel ride, and an ice lolly - £2 contribution
Sponsored by Poponin
6pm – 7.15pm - JUNIOR DISCO
Come along to South Avenue Recreation Ground for a boogie at the Children’s Disco. Just £4 a ticket, to include a snack, fruit and unlimited squash/water. Age 4+.
This year tickets will be available to buy before the event to try and keep the queue to a minimum on the night. There will also be a green and red system whereby the wristband your child wears determines if they are able to freely leave the disco. Tickets can be bought from Fabulous Floors.
6pm – 10.30pm - HURST BAND NIGHT
Come and enjoy an evenings entertainment on South Avenue Rec with live music from local singers and bands, the return of the Hurst ‘BAR’ point, and food stalls.
Saturday 1st July
From 12.30pm - PROCESSION AND FAIR
Enjoy the procession (between 1-2pm), the main arena events, fun run, stalls, street food market, and the Harris’ Funfair.
Headline sponsor: Sussex Stoneworks
Main sponsors: Chatt Estates, Hurst College, Japour Gym, and Stuart & Partners.
1.30pm - ST LAWRENCE FAIR FUN RUN
Enjoy both a fun run and the village fair, with a choice between the challenging 8.6km course taking in Wolstonbury Hill or the flatter 3km course through the grounds of historic Danny House. Both are circular routes in a beautiful setting and are again sharing the same start at the front of the fair procession, running past the cheering crowds on the High Street. Trophies and great prizes are awarded to the first three places, male and female, for both courses (to under 16s only for the short course). Starting at 1.30pm, gathering at the Village Green beforehand, allowing more time afterwards to enjoy the fair.
Prices:
Long course (5 miles) : £10
Short course (1.5 miles) : £5
You can register online at runbritain.com. Advance online booking only, available until the night before.
Changing facilities and toilets available (sorry, no showers).
Procession route and road closures
Procession route and road closures
Procession starts from Marchants Road at approx. 1pm, however groups start assembling from about midday. Access to all side roads off Marchants Road will be from the Trinity Road end (marked 1a on the graphic), but will be blocked at the Cuckfield Road end from 12.30pm for safety reasons. Once the procession has cleared Marchants Road, this road block will be removed.
& 3. Cuckfield Road between these points will be closed from 1pm, until the procession makes it way up Western Road, at approx. 1.15pm. As soon as the whole procession is on Western Road, these road blocks will be removed.
4. & 5. Western Road will close between approx. 1.15pm and 1.50pm. The procession stops for a break at point 5 at 1.30pm for 15 minutes. It will then move onto the High Street and once cleared, Western Road will reopen.
6., 7. & 8. As soon as the procession reaches the High Street at approx. 1.45pm, this road will then be closed. Cuckfield Road at point 7 will temporarily close to allow the procession to move across the roundabout. As it moves along the High Street, road blocks 6 & 7 will be removed. The procession will reach South Avenue Recreation Ground at approx. 2pm, and once all safely in, the High Street will reopen.
Fair update By Lona McDonald
Hello Hurstpierpoint! Fair weekend will soon be here - we hope you’re looking forward to it as much as we are. Preparations are well under way, and there are a few ways in which you can get involved:
Stallholders: there are still some slots available - to book please get in touch at stlawrencefair.stalls@gmail. com; we’d love to see you at the Fair.
Procession entries: local groups, if you’d like to enter the procession, either with your organisation or as part of the new Mini Float Cup (sponsored by Garden Sage), please drop us an email at slf.procession@gmail.com; the theme of ‘Royal’ offers lots of design options! (See below for details)
VIP tables: tickets for the sought-after VIP tables are now available for the Friday night; why not grab a premium spot in front of the band in a sectioned off area with tables and seating? Tables seat up to ten people and cost £100 which includes nibbles and a couple of bottles of fizz; to book send an email to stlawrencefair.stalls@gmail.com.
Junior Disco: This year tickets will be available to buy before the event, to try to keep the queue to a minimum on the night. There will also be a green & red system, whereby the wristband your child wears determines if they are able to freely leave the disco, or not. Tickets can be bought in advance from Fabulous Floors for £4, which includes a snack, fruit and unlimited squash/water.
Pre-entry to our competitions: Take part in the Fair competitions - you can enter in advance by emailing stlawrencefair.stalls@gmail.com:
• Hurst’s Got Talent, Saturday 17th June, 3.30pm at The New Inn - if you’re 13 or under come along and show us your talent - the winner will open the Fair on 1st July (entry forms are also on our website (www.stlawrencefair.co.uk).
• Tug of War - enter your teams early to join the competition on Fair day.
• Chuck the Royal Welly - join us in the arena on Fair day for our audience participation competition.
• The Famous Finale - the final competition of the day, register your team early to join in the fun. Enjoy reading through the Fair Programme (which is being distributed with June’s edition of Hurst Life) - a huge thank you to the Hurst Life Team for organising this. We look forward to seeing you over Fair Weekend (30th June - 1st July)!
New mini float competition - New Annual Mini Float Cup
St Lawrence Fair 2023
A few years ago, our next door neighbours in College Lane, Markus and Liz Saich (before they moved to run the excellent Wayfield Park Farm and shop) would generously provide their tractor and trailer. This, combined with the wonderful costumes produced by PTA Chairwoman Pam Williamson, meant that we annually produced some fantastic floats to enter in the St Lawrence Fair Procession each year for many years - with themes including St Trinians, Wizard of Oz, Henry the 8th, the Dance of 7 Veils, the Queen’s Jubilee, and Moulin Rouge.
We certainly didn’t win first prize each time as there was stiff competition from some other amazing floats. Afterwards in the arena and in our fantastic Hurst pubs would be unusual scenes such as Tinkerbell having a pint with a lion and a belly dancer.
Therefore, this year, we are bringing back those halcyon days and encouraging Hurst residents to dress up for prizes with our new 'Mini Floats’ section - come on, you know you want to.
To make this work, lovely Hurst residents Ed Nugent and Steve Bartram at Garden Sage Nursery have offered to provide 6 plant trolleys for 6 teams of 7. Click the picture provided to see one of the trolleys that can have the shelves removed and can become a castle, chariot, boat, or whatever you choose. Time to get creative!
Ed and Steve will also present the new annual Garden Sage Mini Float Cup to the winners of the best dressed team and float.
If you and 6 friends (over 18s) like a bit of dressing up and fancy a fun-filled challenge, please let me know asap on the email address below.
The theme is Royal, so your design options are huge.
Email Gavin at slf.procession@gmail.com
The St Lawrence Fair procession will conclude on South Avenue Rec and the Fair will commence from 12pm, Saturday 1st July.
