Wednesday 13 November 2013

Christmas Fair

The 7th December isn't far off now. The Sixth Fairtrade Hay Christmas Fair will be in the Buttermarket as usual, and there is one stall left for a Fairtrade trader or local producer. The cost is £35 for an 8 x 4 foot space, including table.

The next Fairtrade Hay meeting, to discuss final planning for the fair, will be on Monday 18th November at the Swan at 8pm. It's also going to be the last meeting for Jackie, who has designed every single poster for the Christmas Fairs since they started!

Saturday 2 November 2013

Stand Up for Timbuktu

I've just come back from the Globe Gallery, where there's an all day event going on to celebrate the links between Hay-on-Wye and Timbuktu.
In the morning, there was a workshop put on by the Hay Theatre Group, leading up to an actual performance in the afternoon, and during the day there are stalls in the main hall. There's a strong Fairtrade presence there, with Tools For Self Reliance, Anacuna who sell plant dyed wool and woven rugs from Chile, Hay2Timbuktu with the Tuareg silverwork and leather boxes, Zimele with their crafts, and Love Zimbabwe, all of whom have been at the Hay Fairtrade Christmas Fair at one time or another.
The weather has been blustery and wet, so few people were making their way up to that end of town, which was a pity, because there's a lot of good quality stuff there. However, there will be another opportunity to buy from some of them at the Fairtrade Christmas Fair this December.
I met Martha from Love Zimbabwe. She's just back from a visit to the Czech Republic, where she's been talking about Fairtrade (and visiting a swimming pool and sauna - to find that Czech people take everything off when they go swimming!). Next Tuesday she will be at the House of Lords, to talk there about her Fairtrade work.

Later this evening there will be comedians in the Lower Gallery, followed by music from Sheelanagig and finally DJ Aubrey Fry.