Hayfield Apple Day returns with fresh menu of eco-friendly free family fun

The traditional fixture of the village calendar returns together with its fair on Saturday, October 8, 1-4.30pm in and around Hayfield Primary School on Swallow House Lane.

Organised by Sustainable Hayfield, the event promises exhibits and entertainment for all ages, with an emphasis on showcasing alternative and more environmentally-responsible modes of living.

Spokesperson Cath Moss said “Apple Day seems to get more popular each year. It’s a family-based event, offering both fun and purpose, with something for everyone.”

Children should be able to squeeze plenty of juice out of the programme, which includes their own creative kids’ show, apple pressing and toasting, ‘forest school’ outdoor activities, storytelling, the chance to get acquainted with ducks and hens and lots of other things to do.

The school’s bike refurbishment scheme will be showing what they do with donated, often damaged, bikes, which they restore and supply to those in need.

Making their debut this year, the newly-formed Hayfield Mummers’ Society – those who go merrymaking in disguise at festivals – will be performing an apple-themed play featuring characters from around the world and lots of audience participation.

Also new is a ‘swap shop’ which invites people to take along clean, good quality unwanted clothes, shoes and small home accessories, and receive a tickets to spend on other donated items.

New Mills’ Repair Café will be setting up a pop-up stall where people can bring along small pieces of furniture, domestic electrical equipment, toys and other broken or malfunctioning items and volunteer experts will attempt to fix them for free.

Elsewhere, there will be live folk music, homemade cider and other refreshments, wellness therapies, and sales of upcycled and recycled wood and glass products, jewellery, ceramics and more.

Many local organisations will be on site with stalls too, offering advice and information about energy use, moorland restoration, ‘citizen science’, green living and eco-friendly services.

Preceding the event at 12.30pm there will be an Act Of Remembrance, organised by St John’s Church and Hayfield Parish Council, in the field next door to the school where residents bereaved during the pandemic will mark their loss with some chosen written words around a specially-constructed arch.

For more details, see sustainablehayfield.com.

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