Need ideas for your school fete or carnival? Choose from these crowd-pleasing activities, marketing strategies and ideas!
Here are some brilliant school fete stall ideas and tips:
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Amusement Rides
From jumping castles to major rides, they are a must-have for any event. Our recommendations are our Inflatable Maze, Euro Bouncer Jumping Castle, 38ft Obstacle Course, Adrenaline Rush Obstacle Course. You may also check our Jumping Castles & Jumping Castle Combos. Also, we have the inflatable Ninja Warrior course as seen on The Footy Show, which has been a huge hit. The course challenges the patrons physically.
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Dunk Tank for hire – Dunk-A-Teacher
Want to dunk the teacher? How about the principal? A dunk tank is a great way to raise money and it’s fun for everyone (perhaps not the teachers).
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Laughing Clowns
By far the most addictive carnival game! The Laughing Clowns are the best attraction for your next sideshow alley event. This game is as much about luck as it is about skill. You need perfect timing to get the highest points as you feed the balls into the clown’s mouth. But, you will need to do these while trying to line up a prize-winning score as displayed on the backdrop!
Hire the Laughing Clowns from us. Also get one of our operators with their crazy clown shoes, pants, and a prize scoreboard.
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Tin Can Alley
Take your event back to the past! Before technology, people enjoyed knocking over a tower of tins. You can have so much fun with our Tin Can Alley. Our colorful wooden frame comes with heavy metal cylinders. Included is a heavy ball, which is more challenging to knock down than it sounds. Give it a go!
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Balloon Darts
Balloon Darts set up includes a wooden table/backdrop, from which the balloons are pegged on. Contestants shoot darts at the balloons and things can get very competitive! Buy cheap toys as prizes and have a couple of major prizes for interest – maybe a $5 note.
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Chocolate Fondue with Fruit
Liquid chocolate combined with fruit will melt anyone’s heart. Served on skewers, this treat is a guaranteed fundraiser.
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Cash Grabber
A Cash Grabber is great for raffles or competitions! Contestants can put their hands in the chutes and attempt to grab the vouchers inside. The Cash Grabber is great for events where you need to attract a crowd.
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Golf Games
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Inflatable Twister
While not considered a stall, the inflatable twister is a fun twist on the original. This comes with an oversized spinner and a supervisor! The twister is set to get everyone’s bodies twisted around.
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Inflatable Sports Games
Our inflatable sports games such as Footy Passing, Golf Challenge , Basketball Shootout, Soccer Shootout, Connect A Shot and Soccer Darts are completely new inflatable designs that we have introduced to Australia. They cover a huge range of ages ans are likely to once again increase your revenue.
- Carnival Foods such as Sno Cones, Fairy Floss, Popcorn
Treats are exciting for all ages. Hire two of our operators to operate all three machines and keep everyone happy. Or, you can hire the machines and all ingredients and have volunteers operate the stalls yourself. Fairy Floss has been a carnival stall staple for decades. Sno Cones are great for all months except for winter so hire one of our Sno Cone machines. Place the Sno Cones as close as you can to the rides so those thirsty patrons have quick access. Popcorn is a great winter seller. We recommend our Popcorn warmer as you will get through so much more popcorn by us supplying pre-popped popcorn, and you simply warm it up. If you are seeking some colour to your stalls, hire our inflatable carnival food stall.
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Multi Games Video Arcade
This unit features 48 games from the 80s and 90s to play with current technology. Bring a nostalgic feel to your event with a Video Arcade stall! Play Galaga, Pacman, Donkey Kong and Space Invaders again! This quintessential Video Arcade machine is going to be one of the favorites.
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Petting Farms
Petting farms are very popular with young children and a great stall for fetes, and larger events. Our staff will bring a variety of small, soft, cuddly animals suitable for children to feed and pat.
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Bubble Wands
Allocate an area for people to blow bubbles. Bubbles can become addictive and intriguing while entertaining to watch. Why not hire our colored lasers and party lights? This will create a spectacular contestant driven show.
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Chocolate Wheel
A Chocolate Wheel is always popular! You can gather local businesses to donate prizes. You may sell 100 tickets at $1 each. You can always raise good money from this sideshow. Check your state regulations about raffles.
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Coffee & Tea Stall
Approach your local café to set up a coffee machine. Sell coffee and quality tea flavors. You could also sell slices of cake and scones to make a drink and cake package. This stall is also great to keep the spirits of your stall volunteers up by providing them a free drink. Or, you can of course also ask a Coffee cart to attend and charge them a fee to be there. Locals love a coffee so make sure they offer a great coffee. Limit what other items they can sell to ensure you are getting the most from the operation.
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Face Painting
We have face painters! They can do anything that the kids want. Our face painters can come dressed as a clown, fairy or pirate or as themselves. Face paintings make for an exciting photograph for the kids and families. And, consider temporary tattoos for the older kids.
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Flower Stall
You can buy bunches of flowers from your local flower market the day before. Or, contact your local florist well in advance to make your bulk order. Flower stalls are a great idea if your event or fete is on the Mother’s Day weekend, or around Valentines Day, as they make a divine gift.
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Farmers Market
Think of having a farmers market at your fete to attract extra visitors. Locals love a farmers market and will spend on other items as well.
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Hot Food Stalls
People get hungry. This will definitely be the most profitable stall. The favorites are also some of the cheapest to make. Think of hot dogs, hamburgers, hot chips, meat pies and sausage rolls. If there are some international mum’s at your school, they can make a curry or stir fry from their family recipe. Ensure that you follow your local council’s food regulations.
Look within your school community for ethnic groups. Find a Greek, Indian, Asian or Italian and encourage them to contribute their traditional foods.
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Soft Drinks
Drinks are a must-have at any event- especially when selling food. Buy cartons of cans and plenty of bottled water. Also approach Bells Pure Ice for a donation. They will usually offer free ice if you pick it up from their plant based in Prospect.
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Hair Color Stall
Extremely popular! By the end of the day, most people will have colored hair. So it is imperative that you stock up. Seems like hair color sprays are a great alternative to face painting for older kids.
- Temporary Tattoos
Who doesn’t want a temporary tattoo? Even the school principal will want one. You can raise a lot of money from temporary tattoos. Want to ramp it up a bit? Then hire our glitter tattoos.
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DJ Party Area
Hire a DJ to play music for all the kids and parents. Music is key to a great celebratory environment. It is important to have an area that will project the sound across the event. Hence, having a DJ that will create a party atmosphere is a great idea for events that continue into the night.
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Showbags Stall
Also, gather promotional vouchers. You may add items from local businesses to put into bags that everyone will receive during the event. This is a great way to help the community collaborate together, and to raise money for your school or event.
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Pony Rides
Ponies are always a favorite with the smaller kids. Our ponies are well kept and rewarded for their work. Ponies are a guaranteed hit if there are a lot of people at your event! Expect a long line every time. Most of all, ensure that you are hiring from an established business with appropriate insurances. It is important as parents will not have public liability insurance.
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Tombola
Tombola is a type of raffle that is popular in Europe. It involves raffle tickets drawn from a large revolving drum. See this Tombola link for more information. In addition, a great prize idea is a meat tray donated from the local butcher.
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Basketball Shootout
Players must score all their colored balls in the allotted time. It’s the only way to win with our Inflatable Basketball Shootout. The ball comes out from your opponent’s side when you score, so the one with the most balls left loses.
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Bungee Fun Run
Bungee Run has two inflatable laneways. Participants are strapped to Bungee ropes to see how far up the lane they can go! The Bungee Fun Run is exciting and challenging.
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Roaming Clown, Magician, Circus
In addition, we have Roaming Clowns that can add colour and excitement. Trained magicians are able to produce many great tricks and illusions! You’ll spend the day in a state of constant wonder.
Getting the locals to support your fete
- Invite the local dance studios to showcase what they do
This adds huge value to your school fete. Local dance studios love showing off what they can do, provides loads of entertainment for everyone and also drags the dance member’s Mums and Dads, brothers and sisters and grandparents along. Now many of these families will have no link to the school but will spend big on food, chocolate wheel and other items sold.
- Ask every class to do something for the fete
Kids love showcasing what they have done in class. It attracts the whole family to the school and as a result the family will spend money while they are there.
Ride Tickets
- Sell ride tickets at a discount prior to the day
You want to entice members of the public and people connected to the school to actually turn up on the day. So, offer discounted ride tickets a few weeks out from the fete or festival date. This will lock people in and they will attend even if the weather isn’t that great. On the day the price should be higher. Bubbling With Energy can offer “Ride at your own risk” wristbands for a small fee.
Setting up your rides
- Set up the amusement rides in a U shape
Confused why? By setting the rides in a U shape you will have patrons gather in the middle. Easy for Mum or Dads to watch their kids on different rides while catching up on the local goss but also creates a fun atmosphere as the locals like to mingle.
To profit share or not to profit share
Whilst the idea of profit share provides you a guaranteed revenue albeit small, if you promote your fete properly you will raise a lot more by taking on the risk yourself and simply seeking a package deal from an amusement hire company. Most profit share arrangements offer an 80/20 split but that does not leave a lot of income for your school. Back yourself and your committee for the event to be successful and it usually is.
Marketing
- Marketing is everything in making your fete successful
Get those huge signs out the front a month before the event. Perhaps hit the local print shop for a free banner. Also, hit the social media sites, and local online garage sale Facebook pages. Additionally, ask the parents to promote the day to all their friends, and put posters in windows of local businesses. Small businesses love promoting something in their local area as it attracts people to their shop.
These activities will actively engage kids are the heart of a school fete. These are the tried-and-true carnival games and activities that schools rely on year after year!
Give Bubbling With Energy Entertainment a try
So, if you are in Sydney why don’t you give us a try. We have loads of amusement rides and carnival foods that will make your fete or event successful. Email us at [email protected] for a quote.