Easter Fair 2023
by Pip Lovell
A bit of background
The Easter Fair started from very small beginnings in April 1982 as a car boot sale and included a boomerang demonstration and 15 stall sites selling herbs, vegetables, crafts and preserves.
Members of the Moutere Hills Progressive League, the Mapua Hall Committee and community volunteers ran the original event and the funds raised were distributed among local community groups including Mapua Playcentre and the Scouts. In 1987 Playcentre took over the organisation of the fair but after continued growth and success the fair soon grew too big for the Playcentre whānau to run alone and they requested the help of Mapua School who joined forces and continued to grow the event to what it is today and making it the key fundraiser for both. Mapua Easter Fair now attracts over 12,000 visitors and has over 290 market stalls each year. Organisation of the event starts in Term 4 and it relies totally on volunteer hours to make it happen.
The funds raised this year and where they are going?
It will be a great feeling getting Mapua Easter Fair off the ground after having a few disruptions due to COVID19. Beautiful weather and no community cases of COVID19 in the country in 2021 allowed us all to relax and get on with hosting what can only be described as an epic event.
Over recent years our fair has attracted between 12,000 - 15,000 people and brings a much needed $50,000 into the school. This income comes from stallholders fees, gate entry, our cake stall, silent auction, white elephant stall, and in 2021 we also had a sausage sizzle and an awesome donation from the Talleys ice cream stall.
You may have seen media coverage recently of the drop in funding some of our local schools are facing in 2023. Unfortunately, Māpua School will be in the same position as the schools mentioned in this article - facing a significant drop in our funding.
We will be relying on the Easter fair to support learning in our classrooms, and to enhance property development projects planned for next year. A fantastic Easter Fair will mean we can provide the support needed for all of our tamariki, and develop enriching play spaces as we begin our exciting property upgrades.
Thank you for your help!
Our incredible little event is totally reliant on volunteers and would not be possible without everyone pitching in.
From baking a cake (and some of them were magnificent), to doing an hour on the front gates collecting money, to spending 3.5 months answering emails, taking bookings, advertising the event and setting out stalls everyones contribution is significant. A BIG thank you to all who have participated in whatever way you have in the past.
In particular we would like to thank some of our team leads from the last few years:
Maria Fillary who is stepping down this year after numerous years doing the marketing and communications.
Connie Sherlock who has been our volunteer coordinator (possibly the toughest job in the line up).
Kathryn Alborough and Fiona Cole who take care of all of our finances and accounts
Pip Hiles and Suzy Hyde who organise all of the acts on the entertainment and stage
Kerry-Lee Thysee- team lead in 2021 and taking it on again in 2023
Virginia Fay who has done13 years (and counting)of site layout and marking out of the field for our 300 stall sites
Emma Burnaby who is the team lead for Silent auction
Nicky Anderson and Mel Allen who organise the white elephant
Esther Cameron who has worked tirelessly to ensure we have recycling onsite and that it runs smoothly.
Pip Lovell - Stall holder coordinator
Situations Vacant
This year we are looking for some awesome individuals to take on the roles of Volunteer Coordinator, Marketing and Communications, recycling and waste and Stall holder coordinator.
If you would like to be involved in the Easter Fair 2023 then please get in touch with Kerry-Lee (kthysse@gmail.com)
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