Fete Stalls

Stalls are a vital component of a fete, and their success depends on thorough planning, diverse offerings, and quality products. For further inspiration, refer to our 99 Stall Ideas article.

Engage parent groups and classes

Encourage parent groups to run stalls based on a simple theme and welcome new ideas from parents new to the school. Assign a stall to each class or year level to foster student and parent involvement. To ignite competition, reward the year level that raises the most money with a pizza party.

Tip: School classes should manage activities like Haunted House or dunking teachers, as it encourages student engagement and is entertaining.

Offer stalls to parents who own businesses

Give parents who own local businesses the opportunity to run a stall. For instance, invite a parent who owns an ice cream parlour to manage an ice-cream van.

Collaborate with outside vendors for small groups

If your group is small, outside vendors might be crucial. The fete committee will decide whether to charge a flat fee or negotiate a profit percentage. Ensure outside vendors have appropriate insurance, permits, and self-sufficiency in power.

Golden rules for working with outside vendors

• Be fair in fees and competition: Avoid overcharging or booking similar stalls.
• Allow vendors to profit: Don't give away items similar to those sold by vendors.

Setting up Sideshow Alley

Create a Sideshow Alley with a mix of skill-based and chance-based games, catering to various age groups.

Tip: Ring a loud bell when someone wins a major prize to generate excitement.

Sideshow Alley games

Many games can be created using common items found at school or home. Examples include pop-stick game, human fruit machine, fishing game, lucky cup, lucky dip, tombola, lollipop tree, water pistols, ten-pin bowling, and bean bag throws.

Having a Sideshow Alley with games that appeal to the young and old is one of the most popular attractions at school fetes. With so many games on offer these days, from Bottle Quoits to Coin Toss, Lucky Bag Draws to Splat The Rat, the sky’s the limit when it comes to your options.
But with so many options to choose from – from natural talent games (e.g. Knock-ems) to those with a predetermined number of winners (e.g. Tombola) – where do you start in setting up your own Sideshow Alley?

Game Selection

It’s important to ensure you have a mix of ‘natural talent’ games of with ‘games of chance’ to appeal to a wider audience. Beaumaris North Primary School in Victoria are holding a ‘Come Play With Us Fete’ in March 2012, which includes a wide variety of games designed to appeal to all types. Some of these include;
$1 Bucket – Put a one-dollar coin in the bucket – win half the money if your coin is drawn out!
21 – Do you like cards? Score exactly 21 in 3 darts and a prize is yours!
Asteroid Blaster – Dislodge the ball balancing on top of the bottle with a large water pistol and you win a prize!
Bust-a-balloon – Pop a balloon with a dart to win a prize!
Hoopla – Surround a box with a hoop and the prize is yours!
Knock-ems – One of the all-time favorite sideshow alley games. Great for all ages and any skill level. Knock down all the cans to win a prize!
Ladder Game – Land a bean bag in each space between the rungs of the ladder and throw the last bag through the door of the bell tower to win a prize!
Lob-a-Choc – See if you can land a gold coin on a bar of chocolate – if it does, it’s yours!
Lucky Bags – Draw a lucky number and receive the corresponding bag of goodies!
Lucky Bucket – Drop a 20-cent coin into a bucket of water – if it covers the gold coin, the coin is yours!
Lucky Dip – Dip your hand in and a grab a prize – prizes for both girls and boys!
Lucky Ducks – Pull a duck out of the pool and the corresponding prize is yours – everyone’s a winner!
Lucky Plate – Land a 20-cent coin on the plate floating in water and you win a prize!
Paper Airplanes – Buy a piece of A4 paper, fold it however you wish to make a paper airplane and then fly your plane along the course. Furthest distance wins a prize!
Ping Pong Pringles – Bounce a ping pong ball into an empty Pringles tube to win a prize.
Pot Luck – Select a pot and pour through a garden sieve to see if you have won a prize!
Ring-a-bottle – Throw a hoop, if it rings the soft drink bottle’s neck, the bottle is yours!
Smash-a-plate – See how many plates you can smash with a wooden ball – no prize, but very popular with dads and kids!
Splat the Rat – Splat the rat with a bat (pinning it against the board) as it drops out of the drainpipe and a prize is yours. Splatisfaction guaranteed!
Tombola – Pull a ticket out of the barrel to find out if you are the winner of a gorgeous teddy bear!
Win A Wine – Something for the adults – a 50/50 chance of winning a bottle of wine. Draw a corresponding ticket and the bottle is yours!
Don’t forget to download our Fete Stall Megaguide below (scroll to the bottom of the page!) – heaps of other great and out of the box ideas for you!
Some of these games take a bit of effort to set up, so a great option for those committees who don’t have the time to organize a sideshow alley themselves is to contact local show companies. Some are more than willing to attend and bring along their own games, if you expect enough people, in return for keeping some of the profits from their games. Alternatively, I’ve seen local community groups such as Rotary or Lions prepared to step up and run a sideshow stall each.

Sourcing prizes

Offer a range of prizes for winners and participants. Popular giveaway prizes include cheap novelty gifts, hair clips, key rings, bubble blowers, and small bags of candy. Obtain prizes through donations or novelty wholesalers.

Tip: Collect novelty prizes from families by organising a 'prize drive' before the fete.

Some of the most popular giveaway prizes are simply cheap novelty gifts from discount stores. Cheaper items like hair clips, key rings, bubble blowers, Chupa-Chups and small bags of candy that you can buy for less than 50cents work well.

Another idea is to have a ‘prize drive’ where families donate novelty prizes in the lead up to the fete.

Some of the more popular winners’ prizes include:

• Stuffed toys
• Plastic trophies
• Cowboy hats
• Dolls
• Novelty items
• Lollies/ chocolate

Some alternative ideas for sideshow prizes include:

• Tuck-shop vouchers
• ‘Try again’ vouchers for another sideshow game
• ‘Dare’ vouchers – get some teachers, parents or the principal to agree to certain ‘dares’. If a student presents their ‘dare’ pass, they have to perform the dare!
• Ride tickets (this will only work if you have pre-purchased the rides. If you are working on a profit share, arrange a certain number of tickets with the ride provided beforehand!)

Tip: Have different ‘major’ prizes for each stall. This will encourage visitors to want to play all the games to win all the different prizes.

You could also operate a ticket system like TimeZone, where kids win a ticket for playing a game, and they can redeem tickets for prizes at a central stall. If this sounds like too much work, ‘consolation’ prizes might be a raffle ticket for a really fantastic prize. At the end of the day –the more games they play, the more chances they will have to win the major prize.

Awarding a ‘prize for every child’ on some, or all, of the games on your Sideshow Alley will attract more players; so a good idea is to have a range of prizes on offer to cover both winners and ‘players’.

Tip: One of the trickiest parts of organising a sideshow alley is ordering supplies. Nobody wants to be stuck with a whole heap of leftover stock, so if you aren’t sure on numbers then make sure the prizes you order be used for other events or fundraisers if they’re not used!