'Something for everyone' at Honiton Charter Day

It's 'the biggest day of the summer' for Honiton – and this year's Charter Day on Saturday is going to be even bigger than usual.

Arrangements for this year's event began later than usual, as the organisers had to wait for the Government's 'roadmap to recovery' announcement in February. But since then, it's been 'all systems go' to create an event that the chairman of the Charter Day committee, Terry Darrant, says will offer 'something for everyone'.

He said: "It's been five months of planning for just one day, so an awful lot of work has gone into it.

"We've got a lot more than usual. Our theme is medieval, so we've focused a lot on that. There's a medieval camp with people giving demonstrations of cooking, calligraphy, sewing, other crafts of that time, and several displays by them.

"There's a medieval fashion show, and the star attraction is the battle re-enactment. There's a falconry display, a ceilidh dance band, children's face painting and hair braiding, a magic show for kids, a small funfair, a dog show and a car boot sale."

There will also be a classic car and tractor parade up Honiton High Street, live music, craft stalls and plenty of vendors selling food and drink.

A chance to support local charities

Fundraising for charity is a key part of Charter Day, and this year will see a record number of charity stalls in Northcote Lane and Allhallows.

Terry said: "It's always been about giving local charities a free pitch to sell their wares and raise some money, and obviously a lot of people lost a lot of money during the pandemic. I think we've got the highest number of stalls booked in since I've been on the committee."

Honiton Charter Day's own charity is the town's Memory Café, and local shops have been raising money for it through a window dressing competition. Meanwhile, the winner of the Hot Pennies window-dressing, Bests, will be awarded a bottle of champagne on Saturday.

For the full programme, click here. But please note that the time listed for the Honiton Town Band concert at the Millennium Green is incorrect - it should read 7pm not 7.30pm.