Strawberries soon sell out at fare

Waimate’s Strawberry Fare on Saturday was just as much about the music, wares and ice cream as it was the fruit.

The annual event is held to celebrate Waimate’s production of the fruit; however, all the strawberries were sold out by noon.

That did not stop people from enjoying other types of delicious goods, from more than a hundred stalls spread across Seddon Square and the nearby William Boland park.

The main focus of the fun was the gazebo stage, where musicians performed and called on the audience to help out.

A particularly popular musical number was The Wonky Donkey by author Craig Smith, who was assisted in the performance by audience-member-turned-donkey-puppeteer Charli Smith.

With no more berries to go around, people settled for the next best thing — real fruit ice cream, with lengthy queues and long wait times for the frozen treat throughout the afternoon.

The wide variety of vendors also helped sweeten up the day.

Among them was 10-year-old Gemma Thornley, owner of Timaru business Gemma’s Balloon Fun.

Freshly blown-up balloon dogs were available at her stall for just $3.

It was the second fare for the young entrepreneur and balloonologist.

Last year she held the stall as a fundraiser, but this year she was going in to make a profit, she said.

It was the final year of selling for furniture maker Stu Robbie.

He had attended for about ten years straight and had been travelling New Zealand selling his rocking chairs for twenty.

Although he was based in Dunedin, he was originally from Waimate.

The best part about selling chairs was that people could sit down for a chat, something he would miss greatly.

It did not matter if they bought anything, he still wanted to meet people and engage with the community.

Being a vendor at a fare took a lot of time and required a lot of heavy lifting and he wanted a bit more life balance in the future.

Another vendor who enjoyed chatting with the locals was Country House Vintage co-owner Darren Hedges, who said people were intrigued by their upcycled goods.

He and his wife picked up discarded goods from the landfill and gave them a makeover, transforming them into home decor.

A popular item at the fare was their painted blocks — offcut pieces of timber painted with images and words.

It was interesting to see how people reacted to their wares, Mr Hedges said.

He and his wife were trying to make their small business into a fulltime gig.