IT was a day to remember for the crowds who flocked to Sutton Poyntz Victorian Street Fayre over the weekend.

The ever-popular event returned on Sunday, July 3 for the first time in four years: the biennial event being cancelled in 2020 as a result of the pandemic.

Organisers said this year’s festivities would be “hard to top” and that they were “blown away” by the support of the community.

The day provided plenty of fun for the family with villagers and stallholders dressed in period costumes in an effort to keep the Victorian tradition alive.

Crowds were entertained with two live music stages featuring the likes of Grand Reunion Band, Mark Penfold’s All Stars, Neil Coad, Weymouth Ukuleleans, Omega Project, Skint Imperials and many more.

David Langridge, chairman of the Street Fayre committee, said: “It was a fantastic event: we were just blown away by turnout. Everyone was really happy, even though there was a slight delay in getting in, but no-one seemed to mind - we were all just so pleased to have the event back!

“Children's entertainment is something we were keen to increase the offering of this year and that went down really well. Preston Pre-School put together a whole series of activities and they were rammed all day.”

“The weather was very kind to us but the people just came in their droves: it was amazing! I think we were expecting a good turnout but, you know, the event has been away for four years so you’re never quite sure but any doubts we had were quickly put to one side.”

The event, which had been held regularly up until the First World War, was revived in 1994 and since then has given away almost £150,000 to charities including Julia’s House, the Horse Course, Water Aid and the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance.

Mr Langridge said, whilst it was too early to give an exact figure on the total raised this year, donations looked to be 5 to 10 per cent up on 2018.

He said: “It’s heart-warming, really, given the tight financial situation that we’re all in at the moment that people are still keen to help out local charities.”