Krispy Kreme Leaderboard Banner
Fundraising Whisperer avatar
Fundraising Whisperer chat
Fete Organiser Guide

Article

Organising a Fete

9 September 2025

Back to all articles

In our 'Organising a Fete' series, you will learn:

  • how to plan the most important day in your fundraising calendar
  • strategies to make your fete stand out from all the others in your area
  • how to put everything in place for this year and get ready for next year’s fete
  • why planned communication is so important
  • top tips from the experts for a fabulous fete
  • how and where to get your message heard in a noisy world of competing messages.

Great fetes and festivals don’t just happen. Those few happy hours of games, stalls and entertainment represent months (and months!) of hard work and rigorous planning by an often unseen army of workers.

In Australia, primary schools dominate the fete scene, but whether you are organising a community-based festival, a high-school fiesta or a charitable fair, the same principles covered in this handbook will apply.

A successful fete is one that runs smoothly, is enjoyable for all who attend, and is financially rewarding.

It will require creative planning and astute preparation and while a bit of luck with the weather is needed, even an unforeseen weather event can be compensated for, with - you guessed it - creative planning and astute preparation. This handbook is designed to help you hit the ground running, to save you time and help you avoid mistakes.


Fete Organising Resources

Plan, promote and run a brilliant school fete with ready‑to‑use checklists, forms and sponsorship tools tailored for Aussie P&Cs/P&Fs. Everything is practical, printable and designed for time‑poor volunteers and it can all be found in our Toolbox. Best of all, it's FREE to access!

Fete Resources in-line.png


 
Success rests with what happens behind the scenes. Take a deep breath. Don’t be frightened. You can organise a fabulous fete because I’m about to share all the know-how I have that will enable you to create a GREAT fete.

Before we begin, I’d like to give you a heads-up of some key mistakes to avoid during this process. Check out the next part (Top 6 Fete Mistakes to Avoid) here.

 

Fundraising Directory brand squiggle

Register your details to get a copy of our 2025 Fundraising Planner sent to your door for FREE!

Explore suppliers

Everything Glows

Everything Glows, established in 1989, is Australia’s ORIGINAL Glow Stick and Flashing Novelty wholesaler. We supply schools, community groups and speciality fundraising committees!

Billy G's Cookie Dough

Bake big profits with Billy G’s Gourmet Cookie Dough fundraiser! Perfect for any size school, kindergarten or group.

Showbags.com.au

Are you a school, organisation or group looking to fundraise? Showbags are the perfect solution!