Fairtrade Christmas Fair

The Fair is still in full swing in the Buttermarket - I went along this morning just in time to hear the Kinnersley Singers performing:

(They're also looking for new members).

Also there were stalwarts of the Fairtrade Fair Tools for Self Reliance, Jump4Timbuktu selling silver and leather goods (also available at Haymakers throughout the year), Hay2Timbuktu with their toilet (the latest campaign was to raise money for new girls' toilets at the high schools in Timbuktu), and the Hay, Brecon and Talgarth Sanctuary for Refugees, who were providing mince pies and hot drinks, and selling copies of Eugene Fisk's books Only Connect and O Happy Hay! Only Connect is a book of portraits by Eugene of some of the refugees that the Hay, Brecon and Talgarth Sanctuary for Refugees help by organising days out in the countryside.

Also at the Buttermarket is a chap who's come all the way from Stroud, and says that coming to Hay is one of the highlights of his year! He was selling all sorts of gifts - mugs from Swaziland, silk scarves from India, elephant poo paper, and lots more. The shop is called eachday Trading Co., and they have a website at www.danaqa.com They work with women-led businesses in a variety of developing countries, and the name means "pleasantly surprised" in Amharic.