Mayfair return to bring Bellbrae to life

THE four-year absence of a treasured community fair will come to an end this Sunday as Bellbrae Primary School welcomes the community to its grounds for a day of rides, fundraising and raffles.

The annual Mayfair, which has been a calendar highlight for Bellbrae Primary for more than 30 years, will be held on School Road this weekend for the first time since 2020.

“We’ve raised an amazing amount of money through this event over the years,” school administrator and market coordinator Belinda Bassi said.

“We’ve had some amazing sponsors join us for this year. We have the Victoria Axemen’s Woodchop Competition as our headline event for the day; we’ll have a range of market stalls holders, music, as well as food and drinks run by our school families.

“We expect between 2,000 and 3,000 residents and visitors to attend based on previous years.”

School infrastructure projects and a global pandemic prevented Bellbrae Primary from hosting its biggest fundraiser of the year for four-straight years.

Ms Bassi said the 480-strong student community has missed not hosting the Mayfair.

“More than half, almost three quarters of our families here, have not experienced a Mayfair. It used to be a really streamlined event, but this year has been quite staggered in introducing everyone to how the event works.

“We’re lucky to have a really great community here, more than 90 per cent of all students and parents will be helping on the day, giving a hand, donating, setting up. It’s the definition of a great, community day.”

Ms Bassi and her fellow administrator Judy Smith said getting the Mayfair back up and running has been a re-learning process but are confident Sunday’s event will run smoothly.

“We’re quite rusty, I must admit. Getting everybody back on board was the first thing we needed to do, as well as remembering not many had done preparation for this before.

“But everyone has jumped on board ready to help and we can’t wait for the Surf Coast community to enjoy the fair once again.”

This year’s Mayfair will run from 10am to 3pm. Guests are asked to bring cash where possible.