The response to the cancellation of Stourhead’s Fête Champêtre has reassured those who made the tough decision to call it off that it was the right thing to do.
Ten days before the fundraiser, the ground was too sodden for contractors to install staging, lighting and technical equipment without churning up the soft ground. The damage caused could have taken years to fully recover.
Instead an evening picnic in the famous landscape garden was offered to those who had already bought tickets, with more than two thousand people still attending and enjoying a grand finale of fireworks over the lake.
©National Trust / Anneli Friedhoff
'The night itself was a great success,' said Graham Puxley, Fête organiser, 'but also the amount of support and understanding people showed us for making the decision to cancel. The feedback has been really heartening.'
'Even though we offered complete refunds, many people insisted on us keeping the money to show their affection for this magical garden, and our efforts to keep it that way.'
The atmosphere was as eccentric as ever, with many people still arriving in costumes they had prepared for the Fête Champêtre. From astronauts to fallen angels, characters from the Wizard of Oz to a group of spirited spermatozoa and their egg!
©National Trust / Adam Cavalier
'I enjoyed myself just as much as any previous year,' said Duncan Smith from London. 'I rather preferred the fact it was less crowded and with less pressure to see all the entertainments. I do hope it continues.'
Jules Sanders, from Sherborne, was celebrating her birthday on the night and knows the Fête of old:
'It was a really magical event, somehow more intimate and elegant. I wonder if this is how the original Fête here would have been. We loved it!'
The comments from visitors and the reaction to the changes will help form on-going plans for the Fête Champêtre and the way the event is taken forward in future years.
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