Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

and some of its former colonies, fêtes are traditional public

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival ...

s, held outdoors and organised to raise funds for a charity. They typically include entertainment and the sale of goods and refreshments.

Village fêtes

Village fêtes are common in Britain. These are usually outdoor shows held on

village green A village green is a common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for gathering cattle t ...

s or

recreation ground A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. N ...

s with a variety of activities. They are organised by an

ad hoc committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

of volunteers from organisations like religious groups or residents' associations. Fêtes can also be seen in former British colonies. In Australia, fêtes are often held yearly by schools and sometimes churches to raise funds. Victoria sponge (14287044448)

Attractions seen at village fêtes include tombolas,

raffle A raffle is a gambling competition in which people obtain numbered tickets, each of which has the chance of winning a prize. At a set time, the winners are drawn at random from a container holding a copy of each number. The drawn tickets are che ...

s, coconut shies, bat a rat stalls, white elephant stalls, cakes, and home produce such as jams and pickles. Competitive baking, such as making

Victoria sponge Sponge cake is a light cake made with egg whites, flour and sugar, sometimes leavened with baking powder. Some sponge cakes do not contain egg yolks, like angel food cake, but most of them do. Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated ...

cake, is part of the classic British fête. Filmed in bunting-draped marquees in scenic gardens, ''

The Great British Bake Off ''The Great British Bake Off'' (often abbreviated to ''Bake Off'' or ''GBBO'') is a British television baking competition, produced by Love Productions, in which a group of amateur bakers compete against each other in a series of rounds, atte ...

'' television series is inspired by the quintessential English village fête."The Great British Bake Off: it's like a village fete in your sitting room"
The Telegraph. Retrieved 25 February 2018 Entertainment at fêtes may include

Morris dancing Morris dancing is a form of English folk dance. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers, usually wearing bell pads on their shins. Implements such as sticks, swords and handkerchiefs may ...

tug of war Tug of war (also known as tug o' war, tug war, rope war, rope pulling, or tugging war) is a sport that pits two teams against each other in a test of strength: teams pull on opposite ends of a rope, with the goal being to bring the rope a certa ...

fancy dress A costume party (American English) or fancy dress party (other varieties of English) is a type of party, common in contemporary Western culture, in which many of the guests are dressed in costume, usually depicting a fictional or stock char ...

, and pet shows. The fête itself is a variation of a fair.

Other types

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

and other English-speaking Caribbean territories, fêtes are huge parties held during the Carnival season. Harvard University's

Eliot House Eliot House is one of twelve undergraduate residential Houses at Harvard University. It is one of the seven original houses at the college. Opened in 1931, the house was named after Charles William Eliot, who served as president of the universi ...

uses the term to refer to its spring formal. Bloomington, Minnesota's, Independence Day celebration (traditionally held on 3 July) has been known as Summer Fete since 1978. In Australia, fetes are typically held by primary schools & other not-for-profit organisations (e.g. the local Seniors' Club, church groups) as fundraisers.

Etymology

The English word ''fête'', pronounced or , is borrowed from the

Mediaeval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...

via the French , meaning "holiday" or "party".The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998). . p. 677 – "fête noun ''Brit.'' a public function, typically held outdoors and organised to raise funds for charity...". The 12th-century

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English ...

root ''fest-'' is shared with ''feast'', ''festive'', ''festal'' and ''festival'', ''festoon'', the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

, etc. and the proper name '' Festus''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fete Fairs

Village fêtes

Other types

Etymology

See also

References