Preparing for the Fair

What you should do

You should review the Policies, Terms, and Conditions, as well as the documents that are linked from that page.

Make sure that you have printed copies of all paperwork to bring with you on the day of the fair. If you have anything that may cause increased risk at an event, you should make sure you have submitted all of the appropriate documentation to risk@cuckoofair.co.uk if you did not submit it with your booking form. When you send it, reference your 3 digit Entry ID and business name in the subject line.

You should be reviewing your copy of the paperwork you submitted to us to verify that it is in date and also that the insurance has the required amount of coverage. If it was set to auto-renew, you should send bookings@cuckoofair.co.uk the new expiry date. If you have accessibility needs that we can accommodate, please email me as well.

You may want to consider getting a back-up SIM or eSIM for mobile data in case any one particular mobile network begins to slow down with heavy use during the day. The fair does not have wifi available, due to the physical size and configuration of the space. It is also important to make sure you have a back up battery pack for card readers and phones that will need power, as there are no charging facilities on site.

If you are to be located in the Memorial Gardens with a vehicle or trailer, make sure you have ground stability duck boards to prevent damage to the ground.

Plan the way you intend to set up your stall so that everything is within the footprint of the pitch size you requested. Study the allocation letter or web site to see what zone and pitch you are in – the zones have colours shown by flag banners on the day, with each green in the Borough having its own colour assigned.

Please have a look at our maps on how to get the Fair.  Please note that if you intend to leave the fair early then you’ll need to park in one of the public car parks – please discuss your requirements with Bookings / Entertainment Managers BEFORE the Fair.

What we do

Before the Fair, we have been working on booking you in for the fair, verifying insurance information is in date, and following up on Health and Safety checks for stall holders who may have set-ups that would require extra checks and documentation to be in place.

All of our committee members work on a volunteer basis, doing things such as arranging entertainment for the day, arranging our insurance, liaising the Wiltshire Council’s Event Safety Advisory Group, arranging contracts with multiple suppliers to provide facilities to the fair, keeping in touch with our local community, working with the Downton Parish Council, managing bookings, managing our expenses, managing our Facebook page, getting the road clear of vehicles, regularly updating our website, and countless other tasks to help us pull the day off without a hitch.

Within a few days of the fair, our Marquees are erected, and some of our volunteers will mark out the pitches throughout the Borough, Memorial Gardens, and Produce Market for every stall holder who has placed a booking. Depending on ground conditions, some last-minute problems may need to be addressed, resulting in last-minute updates that will be communicated via email, Facebook, and/or the website.

The Morning of the Fair

What you should do

You may arrive from 6:00 a.m., you should aim to arrive no later than 8:00 a.m. to drive to your pitch and unload your vehicle. The colours of the zones are indicated by the flag banners. If you are in the Memorial Gardens, please aim to arrive and have your vehicle in place by 7:30 a.m. The speed limit is 5 mph across the Fair.

Unload your goods at your pitch, then park your car in the stall holders car park [shown by the on the maps] located either opposite the Orange zone at the West end of The Borough or at the Baptist church on South Lane, then go back to your pitch to set up. In case of emergency please ensure that you leave your on-the-day contact details displayed in your vehicle.  Please do not keep your vehicle at your pitch while you set up, unless you are located in the Memorial Gardens and have made prior arrangements with me to keep your vehicle with you for the entire fair.

If you arrive between 8:00 and 8:30 a.m., security posted at the road closure by The Bull will make judgment calls on whether it is safe for your vehicle to enter The Borough. After 8:30 a.m., The Borough will only have emergency vehicle access, and you will be required to park in a car park meant for visitors of the fair, from where you will have to carry your belongings. This can be as much as a 0.5 mile long walk with your set-up, and you will have to pay £10 for parking.

Note: Any vehicles coming to the East end of the road will have at least a 5 mile/20 minute detour to get back to the West end, so please pay attention to your navigation and make sure you approach Downton via the A338 if you absolutely can’t arrive before the road is closed at 8:30 a.m.

There may be people, especially from the village, who are walking about as you set up. It is your choice if you want to do any transactions before our event officially begins, but we request that your set up be completed by 10:00 a.m., as this is the official start time of the Downton Cuckoo Fair.

Please make sure your gazebo is contained entirely within your allocated pitch(es).

What we do

At 8:30 a.m. the East and West ends of The Borough are closed to all through traffic. Only the West end of The Borough will allow vehicle access for stall holders after this time. Security will be posted at both road closures to ensure the vehicle barriers are in place and they will divert traffic away from the village.

Keeping vehicles out of The Borough on the day of the fair is critical for everyone’s safety, and so security will be posted by the vehicle barriers to make sure only emergency vehicles have access to the road starting at 8:30 a.m. By this time, all vehicles in The Borough are expected to have already moved to the designated stall holder free-of-cost car park. At the end of the Fair no cars can leave these car parks until crowds disperse.

We will have Zone Managers from Venture Security along with volunteers wearing high viz vests located in the zones to help ensure safety throughout the day and to help answer questions or contact the right person for issues you may have. Members of the Downton Cuckoo Fair committee along with other volunteers will be present at the Info Center for the fair from around 6:30 a.m. until the end of the fair. This will be located in front of The Borough Café, the middle of the Fair.

During the Fair

What you should do

Keep all the contents of your stall within the confines of your pitch, to help ensure that foot traffic is not impeded.

Also help your customers maintain a queue in a way that does not impede your neighbouring stall holders, the road where crowds may need to be ushered rapidly for the sake of emergency vehicles, or general foot traffic. How you achieve this is up to you, but many stall holders adopt a layout within their pitch to allow people to step out of the passing foot traffic.

Notify your Zone Manager if there is an issue where you need our team to support you, as they will have walkie talkies and know the right point of contact for your needs. This includes any issues you may have with visitors.

Please follow any instructions given to you by Zone Managers or Security teams.

Keep note of our Event Control phone number which is another way you can contact a member of our Event Management team if you’re having issues that need our assistance. When calling this number, please be ready to give your zone and pitch number. This phone number is for calls, not texts. This phone number will only be answered on the day of the fair.

What we do

We will continue to have people available in the Information tent throughout the day, to assist people attending the fair as well as stall holders. Event Management may take photos throughout the day.

Some members of our team will also help facilitate the fair’s entertainment throughout the day, as well as managing the tannoy for announcements.

Zone managers will be around throughout the fair, ready to assist with questions and issues that arise.

Venture Security will also be present throughout the day to help ensure our fair remains safe.

We have paramedics on site to assist with any medical emergencies happening in the area, and people will be at the road blocks all day long to facilitate emergency vehicle access.

Ending of the Fair

What you should do

Stop trading at 4:30 p.m., prompt. Manage any queues you have before this time to ensure you can stop on time. This is the primary driver of crowd dispersal, and therefore is considered a safety requirement. Note that you won’t be able to collect your car from the car parks until the crowds
dispersed and it is safe to do so. Failure to stop in time may result in you not getting an invitation to return to future fairs.

Please do not dismantle your stall or try to depart before the official closure of the fair. The gates to the stall holder car park will be locked to help ensure the safety of both you and all our visitors. At 4:30 p.m., begin taking down your pitch and DO NOT go to retrieve your vehicle until everything, including your gazebo, is dismantled and ready to load. This should be completed no later than 5:30 p.m.

Please minimise your waste and take away your packing materials with you at the end of the day. The Downton Girl Guides do the litter pick after the fair, and this will help ensure their tasks are achievable in the time they have available.

What we do

Our zone managers will begin to usher crowds towards the exits.

The stall holder car park will begin to release vehicles in batches as the crowds disperse, to go into The Borough to pack up and leave.

Some of our volunteers will collecting bins and start gathering equipment that has been rented for the day. We will continue to tidy up the village to get it back to its regular state for the villagers.

I will send out a survey towards the end of the fair to your email, requesting your feedback from the day, so I can learn from your experience and we as a committee can prioritise improvements based on this feedback.

Map

To demonstrate zone order and car parks

<<< TO RINGWOOD	A338			TO SALISBURY >>>
Houses			Road Closed 0830	The Bull Hotel
Access Road - mind the ramps
75		28	ROAD	Stallholder
...	ORANGE	...
...	ZONE	...	Entrance>	Car Park
51		1
Access Road - mind the ramps
60		12	ROAD
...	GREEN ZONE	...
51		1
Access Road - mind the ramps
74		24	Road
...	BLUE	...
56	ZONE	...		Memorial
Not Used		1
Access Road - mind the ramps			Entrance>	Gardens
58		(8)		Memorial Hall
...	YELLOW ZONE	...
50		1	ROAD	First Aid
Access Road - mind the ramps
75		25
...	RED	...
...	ZONE	...
51	MARQUEE END	0
<< to Stall Holder Car park		South Lane		Gravel Close
		61		10
<< Produce Market		WHITE ZONE	ROAD	...
		51		1
Access Road - mind the ramps
85		31
...	PURPLE	...
...	ZONE	...
51	MARQUEE END	1
Green Lane / Access Road - mind the ramps
			To Tannery Bridge, New Forest ROAD CLOSED 0830

The numbers are the start and end pitch numbers. Basically numbers 1 to around 30 are on the side nearest the through B road, numbers 50+ are on the side nearest the houses and they increase as you head towards The Bull Hotel / A338