Get your fill of fruit fairs in the South East

Join in with quirky games and traditional entertainment this weekend, with one of the summer fruit fairs taking place in the South East.

Brogdale Cherry Fair

Brogdale in Kent will be holding a Cherry Fair on Sunday 21st July, with quirky highlights including a Cherry Pie Eating Competition, and the Longest Cherry Pip Spit contest.

The pie eating competition will involve trying to eat a cherry pie in the quickest possible time. The pip spit game will see competitors trying to spit a cherry pip the furthest distance.

Brogdale is the home of the National Fruit Collection. It holds around 400 different varieties of cherries which range from black, red, pink, yellow, through to white. Visitors can head to the cherry barn where they will be able to taste the different varieties and purchase some to take home. There will also be homemade cherry pies on offer (yum!).

The day will also offer walking and tractor tours, talks and demos, crafts and children’s activities.

Brogdale will also be holding a Plum Day in August, a Pear Day in September, and an Apple Festival in October.

More info: www.brogdalecollections.org/brogdale-cherry-fair

Binsted Strawberry Fair

Binsted in West Sussex will be holding a relaxed, traditional country fair, celebrating the strawberry.

Binsted Strawberry Fair will also take place on Sunday 21st July, with folk music, stalls, rural crafts, games, animals and of course strawberries.

This will be the 32nd year that the event, which focuses on the more traditional entertainment of a country fair, has taken place. The fair is held in a 19th century threshing barn and the Strawberry Fair fields near Arundel.

There will be plenty of family friendly activities, including an animal corner and children’s games. Expect activities and games such as lucky dips, whack the rat, fish the duck and toss the cone.

Don’t expect any bouncy castles or canned music though, this is a traditional country fair. Instead there will be a small group of traditional folk musicians playing in the entrance to the lovely old flint threshing barn, where cream teas with strawberries will be served, alongside cakes and strawberry scones. There will also be local produce for sale, a raffle and a strawberry coloured Pimms Tent.

There will be village fete standards such as sales of books, a bottle tombola, bric-a-brac, and ice cream, as well as the more unusual stalls selling herbs, shrubs and perennials, and the animal corner with the likes of donkeys, turkeys, chicks and owls.

More info: www.binsted.org/strawberryfair