It's entertainment at Nailsea street fair

NAILSEA is streets ahead with the planning of its traditional annual fair.

The High Street will be close late afternoon on Friday, December 4 to allow the fun to begin.

Entertainment from magicians; musicians; martial arts experts; line, belly and ballroom dancers; singers; stilt walkers; jugglers; fire-eaters, Morris Men, police horses and people in furry costumes pretending to be cuddly animals are all being lined-up for the event.

There will be a fun fair in the Clevedon Road car park, snow machines in the High Street, choirs singing in Somerset Square, a Bucking Bronco outside the Royal Oak public house and little donkeys trotting up and down giving the town centre a real festive feel.

Hot chestnuts and malt wine will be served along with hot dogs and fizzy pop.

Films of skate-boarding festivals will be shown, acoustic music sessions will sound in Nailsea Youth House and children with special talents will perform with the dancing troupe Boogie Beats.

On the evening a shuttle bus will ferry those living on the fringes of the town and from Backwell and in the town centre will be a vintage bus for the oldies to admire and a play bus for the tinies to enjoy and a fire engine for the in-betweenies.

The emergency services, health & safety forms, insurance(s) and road closure procedures have all be completed and those responsible for the staging and PA systems are sorting out what and who goes where.

But the working party of representatives from Nailsea Chamber of Trade & Commerce, Nailsea School, Weston College @ Nailsea, Youth House and churches say they will need more help (muscle) on the day.

Chairman Gilly Chu said: “It is the setting up and clearing up we will need help with most as many of us on the committee will have our own businesses to look after.

“We need people on the ground.

“Last year the road closed signed went walkabout and we had no-one to go and look for them – we don’t want that to happen again.”

The Lions and Rotary clubs, Scouts, air cadets and school sixth formers are all being asked to lend a hand, she added.

A programme of attractions with details of which shops are staying open late is being put together and this will include a map showing the stall positions.

It costs £30 for commercial stalls and £15 for charities and local fundraisers.

To advertise in the programme or book a stall contact treasurer Shirley Matthews on 01275 857914 or pop into Gilly’s café for a form.

Want to help? Got a good idea? Know how to make the rain go away? Then go to the next meeting on Wednesday, October 21 at 5.30pm at Gilly’s café.