Clarborough welcomed the return of its renowned festival for the first time since before COVID this weekend, despite growing concerns about its future.
The single-day event, which traditionally takes place at the village’s community hall, brings together social groups, local stallholders, independent food traders and live entertainment.
Such stallholders include Madame Crepe, a 5-star mobile creperie who regularly appears at Nottinghamshire social events, and Vintage Bakery, who are approaching their second year since its establishment in Retford in 2024.
The festival’s return – in the small village next to Retford, follows several appeals from organisers, who warned in April that it would be unable to proceed without further support.
A major hurdle in developing the event was the lack of volunteers that had subsequently dropped amid the pandemic.
Clarborough Village Ventures, known for its involvement within local fairs and festivals, is currently being run by a very small organising team.
The group, in the Clarborough and Welham Newsletter, expressed their concerns in developing this year’s festival, stating to the local community that they ‘wouldn’t be able to make this a reality without your help.’
The publication also highlighted the group’s inactivity since the pandemic and claimed that they were seeking to ‘reform’ in the hopes to bring the festival back.
Nicholas Smith, the event organiser, made it his mission to reignite the long-standing tradition.
As Clarborough and Welham’s Parish Councillor, Smith began planning the festival, as he thought that it had been too long since the community got together in a magnitude of this sort.
“The fair was last done in 2019, and I thought that the village needed our fair back, so I got a small team together and we got the ball rolling”, Smith said.
“I reached out on social media and people wanted the same thing. I wanted to get the message out there to as broad an audience as possible, and I’m glad we did”, he added.
Thankfully for Chris and the team, on Sunday, the village field was full of activity, which included a dog show, live music, interactive games, and a play area for the younger attendees.
The dog show, which has been a featured event at the festival for years, included several categories that took place throughout the day to cater to all attending pups.
Also present at the event was a range of local businesses and charities, one of which being Lincs and Notts Air Ambulance.
‘LNAA’ is a helicopter emergency service which offers high-level medical support at the direct location of a crash or incident scene.
When the event does take place, LNAA are often seen with a small stall situated directly in the centre of the playing field.
Clarborough festival and fairs alike, enable the charity to raise awareness of its work through speaking face-face with residents from the area.
Present at the festival was Craig Done, a local musician and an ambassador for LNAA.
Done, who was the developer of the services’ theme song, noted the importance of community fairs and their help in boosting local charities.
“These events are absolutely important because it gets the message over and I know people in this village who have had to use such facilities”, Done said.
“All the money that comes in is voluntary and there are government contributions. That’s why people like me are out and about, trying to raise funds for it”, he added.
The charity recently reported the busiest January in its history, with an average of over 5 missions a day, highlighting the increased need for critical-response services.
Organisers have repeatedly stressed that the festivals play an essential part in keeping the local community connected and backing the smaller establishments.
While there were many debuting stalls and stands like Madame Crepe and Vintage bakery, present were also many returning vendors, like the Hog Roast and multiple arts and crafts stalls.
Despite much of the footfall being on the village field, there was also much more on display elsewhere.
The front of the venue featured a collection of old model tractors, brought along by local enthusiasts from across the area.
Clarborough, while being a relatively small village, lies within a long-established farming region, and some of the tractors on show at the weekend were those used to modernise local farming after WWII.
Also on show was a display of vintage cars, which included a varying mix of mid 20th century models.
However, despite the events success and booming attendance, organisers reiterate that the festivals future relies on continued support from the community.
They are urging local people to consider getting involved to ensure the festival remains viable, as they warn that without additional support, events like this may no longer be manageable.
Plans are in talks for next year’s event, but nothing has yet been confirmed by the organising team.
