The powerful community event that is your local school fete

They all looked reasonably sane.

Jokes.

I'm just about to finish coordinating my school fete for the second year in a row and I'm not quite bonkers, but almost there.

Did anyone ever tell you putting on a fete is a lot of work?

For that story in 2019, we got few seasoned fete organisers together and they couldn't help but talk shop, trading tips and war stories.

One even likened organising a fete to childbirth; once the pain is forgotten, you're busy planning for the next one.

That got a lot of laughs.

Another fete veteran said sagely that even before her school's fete had been held, she was already thinking about the next one.

"I'm even dreaming about it," another one said.

Luckily, at one of the fetes, one of the women said, there was a wine stall, run by a switched-on father.

"He usually comes around at the end of the fete to the volunteers with a bottle of wine and some glasses," this coordinator said.

Everyone seemed to be noting that down for their next fete.

Canberrans love a good fete and, to be honest, putting on a fete is also a lot of fun, despite the sleepless nights and constant fear of bad weather.

(Our school's fete is always held in May, the weekend before Mother's Day, so the weather is often dicey. Last year, we were lucky enough to have beautiful sunny weather. The next day? It snowed in Belco. I kid you not.

Schools, of course, are a community, and a fete can be at the heart of that community.

If you don't know many people at your school and want to meet new people, join the fete committee! There's always things to do!

And fetes have moved on a lot from just coconut ice and the white elephant stall.

These days, there are carnival rides, gourmet food (I've seen shucked oysters on ice at one local fete) and top-notch entertainment. Did someone say Chinese dancing lions? Nerf gun play arena?

We all know people are time-poor. It's not easy to give commit to a committee. But by the time fete day has arrived, the whole school rises to the occasion and an army of volunteers turns up. And it's bloody heart-warming.

There's teachers on the barbie cooking up the snags and bacon and egg rolls. Parents - and grandparents - are putting up marquees and setting up tables. Dropping off plants and bottled preserves. The stalls, from the cakes to the clothes to the books, are all manned.

There's just a sense of everyone pulling together to put on a fabulous day. To put a smile on kids' faces. And for the whole school community to feel a sense of pride.

Teachers, already busy with their own classes have, behind the scenes, been working, too, to make the day a success. Our principal before last year's fete was on a mower for hours at a working bee to get the place looking schmick. She's pretty amazing. Our fabulous deputy principal works tirelessly for months on the fete.

The cost-of-living crisis is real, but parents have been donating items left, right and centre, whether it's a chocolate for the chocolate trailer or a cake of soap for a Mother's Day hamper, not to mention buying raffle tickets and generously donating prizes from their own businesses.

And, of course, the beating heart of any school community - the ladies in the front office - are an invaluable help. They know how to get shit done.

I remember, back in 2019, one of the fete coordinators in our story said she was motivated by a common school creed: "That as many hands build a house, so many hearts build a school."

So. Bloody. True. Remember that when you're lining up for a snag at your next school fete.