Saturday 4th July 2026 from 11am to 11pm
Bring the children along to this year’s Rowlands Castle Village Fair and enjoy the timeless fun of Ben Bamboozle’s Punch and Judy Show.
Ben will be performing four shows during the day at:
• 11.45am
• 1.00pm
• 2.00pm
• 3.00pm
You’ll find the Punch and Judy theatre in the centre of the Green, close to the flagpole and the ice cream van.
A classic family favourite guaranteed to raise plenty of smiles and laughter!
As we count down to the Rowlands Castle Village Fair on Saturday 4 July 2026, we’re inviting you to share your favourite photos from fairs past and present.
Whether it’s a treasured memory from decades ago, a colourful scene from recent years, or a picture that perfectly captures the spirit of our village fair, we’d love to see it.
Our favourite photo will win a £50 meal voucher to spend at The Castle Inn.
You can enter in either of two ways:
We’ll also be running a separate competition on Fair Day itself for the best photo or video taken at the 2026 fair, so don’t forget to bring your camera or smartphone.
Share your memories
Capture the atmosphere
Celebrate the Rowlands Castle Village Fair
In less than a month’s time, the Rowlands Castle Village Fair will once again bring our village green to life, welcoming hundreds of visitors for a day of fun, entertainment and community spirit.
To make the day a success, we’re still looking for a few more volunteers to help with:
You don’t need any previous experience. If your role involves taking payments, we’ll show you exactly what to do, either before the fair or on the day itself.
Even an hour or two of your time can make a real difference. Volunteering is a great way to meet people, support your local community and help keep this much-loved village tradition thriving.
As a small thank you, anyone volunteering for two hours or more will receive a FREE BBQ item and a drink from the bar.
If you can spare some time, we’d love to hear from you.
When completing the online form, please remember to indicate your preferred role(s).
The RCVF Committee is delighted to announce that this year’s Village Fair magazine has rolled off the presses at Bishop’s Printers and will soon be making its way to homes across the village.
Copies will either be delivered to your door or available to collect from a range of local outlets, including Home Hardware, Londis, The Castle Inn, The Bumblebee Cafe, Halls Garage, Rowlands Castle Pharmacy, Barbers on the Green, The Robin Hood, The Staunton Arms and the local Shell Garage, among others.
As always the magazine includes entry forms for this year’s Horticultural Show, once again organised by the Rowlands Castle Gardening Club.
You may also find a flyer titled “Volunteers Needed – Your Fair Needs You”, inviting local residents to lend a hand by giving just a couple of hours of their time to support the fair.
We’re also launching a photo competition, open both to those with favourite memories and photographs from past fairs, and to visitors capturing the atmosphere on the day itself.
And finally, don’t forget to mark Saturday 4th July in your diary — we look forward to seeing you there!
It’s taken rather longer than we first envisaged, but the Rowlands Castle Village Fair’s new shed is now almost ready for use.
For as long as anyone can remember, we’ve relied on a small wooden shed behind the parish hall to store our gazebos, bunting, BBQ and bar equipment. It’s served us well, but the time has come to move on. The new shed is significantly larger and, crucially, much easier to access—something that will make a real difference on set-up day.
Work began back in the autumn, when Louis Silk laid the 6m x 3m concrete base on which the shed now stands.
After that, progress paused until March, when kinder weather finally allowed us to tackle the flat-pack metal structure.
With over 90 different parts, 232 individual components (not including some 2,200 screws, nuts, bolts and washers), and a 37-page instruction manual, we knew from the outset this was not going to be a quick job.
We assembled en masse early on Saturday morning, sorted the myriad parts into some semblance of order, and began work on the base frame—knowing it had to be perfectly square if everything else was to fit.
Progress was slower than hoped, particularly when it came to installing the Rawl bolts.
Following a welcome break for bacon baps and tea, we marked out the base positions and turned our attention to assembling the side walls.
A light breeze meant several members of the team were pressed into service as human props, holding panels steady while others wielded screwdrivers. Meanwhile, separate teams worked on the front and side doors, and another group began constructing the internal support frame to stabilise the increasingly wobbly structure.
By the end of day one, we had the walls up and one gable end in place—a solid start.
Sunday brought further progress. The front doors were fitted, the gable ends completed, and the roof frame assembled.
However, when it came to fitting the roof panels, we hit a snag. A bit of backtracking was required, and even then the holes in the panels stubbornly refused to line up with those in the frame.
At that point, there was only one sensible course of action: tools down, and adjourn to the pub.
A flurry of emails with the supplier followed, complete with photographic evidence. Eventually, towards the end of the week, “Dave the Shed Whisperer” took a look. With a bit of expert jiggery-pokery, four roof panels were successfully installed by Thursday evening.
Buoyed by Dave’s intervention, the team reconvened the following Saturday. Progress was still steady rather than swift, but morale remained high—helped along by sausage and bacon baps, coffee and biscuits.
After a fair amount of pushing, pulling, and a pragmatic approach to slightly misaligned holes, we finally completed the roof and top flashing.
Just a few finishing touches remain before the great transfer begins. Watch this space!
In alphabetical order: Andy M, Andy T, Bob L, Claire T, Dave ‘shed whisperer’, Donna G, Grahame M, Heidi A, Herb M, Jesse, Lisa L, Louis S, Patch, Pete F, Phil H and Susan M.
Grahame Morrison and Lisa Laverty didn’t know
what they were to be roped in for when they
visited Little Fishes Toddler Group at St John’s.
They were there representing the Village Fair
Committee, which had generously decided to
donate £250 from the fair’s profits to this popular
village group.
Little Fishes is run by St John’s Church providing
a couple of hours from 9 am on Monday mornings
in term time for families (and childminders) to
meet up with babies, infants and pre schoolers for
friendship and fun.
Crafts, simple bible stories, nursery rhymes, snack
time as well as free play are all part of the relaxed
and friendly morning.
Adults have unlimited tea and coffee, with mostly
a piece of home made cake at snack time too.
This article and photos, written by Daphne Youngs, was originally published in the RCA’s magazine Village & Valley, Autumn/Winter 2025/2026.
🎉🌟 A Huge Thank You to Our Main Sponsor – Henry Adams!🌟🎉
We are thrilled to announce that this year’s Rowlands Castle Village Fair is once again proudly sponsored by Henry Adams, whose generous contribution has helped make this beloved community event possible. 💙
Thanks to their incredible support, we’ll not only cover the fair’s running costs but also increase the funds we aim to raise for good causes in the village and local area.
Join us for a fun-filled day of live music, food, activities, and so much more—all while supporting our wonderful community. Let’s make this year’s fair an even bigger success!
📣 Spread the Word! Tag your friends and neighbours, and let’s show our appreciation for Henry Adams and the incredible difference they’re helping us make.
It’s that time again! In just under six months, the Rowlands Castle Village Fair will once again take over The Green — and we’d love you to be part of it.
The Fair attracts a large local crowd and is a great way to raise your profile while supporting a much-loved community event.
Here are three ways to support the event
Book a stall and meet visitors face-to-face on the day – Saturday 4th July 2026.
Advertise in our Village Fair magazine, published in May and distributed widely across the village. Your advert will also appear in the website until the next year.
Donate a prize for our Grand Raffle, always one of the highlights of the day.
Any level of support makes a real difference, and we’d be delighted to talk through the options with you.
With many thanks to:
Some of you may have noticed a slight list towards the Fountain. Several of the RCVF committee attempted to straighten it last Friday. While Grahame and Herb were attempting to hold it upright, Phil was under the tree hammering in wedges. Unfortunately the rubber tube into which the tree’s trunk is inserted has started to perish. Let’s hope we remember to correct the situation by next year.
The Rowlands Castle Village Fair is delighted to report a charitable donation of £500 worth of food ingredients to Sunday Suppers at St. Simon’s, a wonderful local initiative providing hot, freshly cooked meals to people who need them most.
Supper at St. Simon’s runs nearly every Sunday evening from 5:30pm to 7:00pm, offering not just nourishing food but also warmth, welcome, and companionship. The donated ingredients will be used directly in their kitchen to help prepare wholesome meals for vulnerable members of the community.
This donation reflects one of the core aims of the Rowlands Castle Village Fair: ensuring that funds raised at the fair continue to benefit local causes in practical, meaningful ways. Turning the generosity of fair visitors, volunteers, and supporters into meals on plates is something we are particularly proud of.
We would like to extend our sincere thanks to everyone involved in Sunday Supper at St. Simon’s—the organisers, cooks, and volunteers—who give their time week after week to support others with dignity and kindness. Their quiet, consistent work makes a real difference.
Supporting local charities like this is only possible thanks to the continued backing of our community. Every raffle ticket bought, burger or hot dog eaten, and game played at the Village Fair helps us give back locally—and this donation is a perfect example of that generosity in action.
Thank you, Rowlands Castle, for helping us help others.