Author: Jarm69

Catering, Event Planning, funfair events

The 5 Best Quirky Desserts For Your Wedding

21 November 2020
Hire Hot Fresh Doughnuts Cart

Over time the trend at weddings has been towards more quirky fun times. The food at a wedding is definitely one of the things people remember. A dessert is literally the icing on the cake. Here are the 5 best quirky desserts for your wedding.

Spanish Churros

The Spanish take on doughnuts. No holes in these, just long fluted fingers of crispy doughy goodness. Traditionally served with a thick hot chocolate, they are becoming more popular over here, with many people having first experienced them on Iberian holidays.

In addition to the standard Churros, we also provide an alcoholic version especially for weddings and events, but definitely not for kids.

Churros With Chocolate
Churros With Chocolate

Dutch Poffertjes

Little pieces of fluffy Dutch goodness. Poffertjes are mini Dutch pancakes, about the size of a 50p piece. They are not that well known over here, but are gradually gaining traction. The events we have attended with them, they have always gone down a treat. Traditionally coated in melted butter and sprinkles with sugar.

Poffertjes Plaat For Hire
Poffertjes Plaat For Hire

French Crepes

A better known dessert the crepe, is like a pancake, only much thinner. It is said that a crepe should be thin enough to read a love letter through. Watching a crepe being made is entertainment in itself. Being expertly twirled into a circle, then flipped over to bake both sides. Available with a selection of fruit and sauce toppings, with Nutella a firm favourite.

French Crepe Carts For Hire
French Crepe Carts For Hire

Belgian Waffles

The country that gave us Brussels Sprouts, (though we think they are the work of the devil), also gave us the fabulous waffle. A similar mixture to crepes, only much thicker, the waffle can be made in various shapes depending on the waffle plates being used. Another dessert that lends itself to Nutella.

Belgian Waffles Carts For Hire
Belgian Waffles Carts For Hire

Mini Doughnuts

Not a continental dessert this one, but still one of our favourites, mini doughnuts sprinkled in sugar with a selection of sauces and toppings.

doughnuts
doughnuts

Whatever type of wedding or party you are planning these are definitely The 5 Best Quirky Desserts For Your Wedding

Check out our other desserts.

Event Planning, Fun Story, funfair events, Funfair Rides

People Less Able And The Funfair

19 November 2020
Stephen Wiltshire Drawing

When I was learning to fly, there was another student I saw regularly called . A young girl mid way through her course. Occasionally she would turn up for a quick coffee in the pilots lounge with her young son in tow. He would do what most kids did, stick his earphones in and play on a game system.

Talking to her she eventually told me that her son was autistic. She said that up to the age of about 5 he had never spoke a word and she was resigned to him not speaking. Then one day, she said, I was really struggling, and I looked up to the sky and shouted please god help me. She said my son looked at me and said god can’t help you mummy he’s dead!

What a shock, turns out he had a full vocabulary and had just chose not to talk. Truth be told he seems a pretty normal kid, if you ask him something he will answer you, he doesn’t seem particularly like he wants to engage with you, but then I don’t think that’s much different to most kids that age.

I do know that there are different levels of autism and some kids function much higher than others. I think the problem is that the film Rainman, skewed the way a lot view the condition. Everyone expects them to have some savant level of genius. We used to do a job in a little shopping arcade in London, one of the shops was an art gallery for a guy called Stephen Wiltshire. It seems he can spend a few minutes looking at a scene, then draw it perfectly from memory.

Stephen Wiltshire Artwork
One Of His Drawings From Memory, The Details Is Incredible

Less Able Bodied Access On The Fairground

It got me thinking as to what issues people with some conditions faced on the modern fairground. I know various disability acts of law have meant that buildings and public places have been adapted to help. But I don’t think much has been done on in the funfair industry.

Truth be told, I don’t think is is financially viable to have say a thrill ride adapted for wheelchair users. Perhaps some of the giant wheels would be credible. They tend to have sloping decks rather than steps, and the cars on many are probably large enough to allow a wheelchair in.

But most of the modern high speed rides are built in such a way that it just wouldn’t be possible to squeeze a chair inside the carriage. To make physical changes to a ride, it would then need to be subject to a ‘Design review’, a complex and costly process to ensure the ride is safe in its new form.

Like many showmen I have helped transfer guests from their wheelchair onto a ride and back. Any operator would be more than happy to do that. I know it isn’t ideal for the customer, and I should imagine it can even be degrading, but I am afraid that its probably the way it will stay.

Special Nights

Many regular funfairs, both large and small, will hold a special night for people less able. Sometimes its advertised and its a sort of free for all, other times the operator in charge will actually contact local organisations and make it a more formalised arrangement.

I do remember one event, where a large group of guests turned up who didn’t have physical disabilities. I am not sure of their actual condition, but they were all really big guys. They spotted a little ride, meant for probably 5-10 year olds and for some reason really liked it. The trouble was as 20 large guys all plonked themselves down heavily in the seats at the precise same time, the poor little ride just folded up on itself. To be fair, it was a ride called the Buzz Bomb, usually these were built almost as a diy ride, just after the war. They used the external drop tanks off of Spitfires, which had the tops sliced off and seats installed. I don’t know if it ever actually made it back into use or it was scrapped.

Buzz Bomb Cars
Buzz Bomb Cars

Autistic Sessions

A number of events now are holding special sessions for autistic kids. They turn the music off on the rides, turn the lighting down, and reduce the speed so that they are not overloaded with sensations. They also keep a special chill out area available so there is somewhere to calm down if needed.

Obviously this is something that any fairground can make happen. It doesn’t require physical changes to the rides and can be organised easily and quickly.

Helping The Deprived

In addition to the less able bodied, fairgrounds will quite often distribute free tickets to the less fortunate. Those in care homes or schools in deprived areas.

It does bring to mind one incident though. We were at a fair in Wallsend, in the North East. A social worker brought a young lad down for a night at the fair. Now, this kid had been nicknamed in the press ‘Rat Boy’. There is a large dystopian structure called the Byker Wall. Its like a giant wall, but with flats built into it. It seems this kid had actually lived in the ventilation system. When a flat was empty he would climb through the ducts and rob it. The police had been after him for months and caught him the night before.

Anyway, this social worker put him on the dodgems ride. He promptly drove the full length of the dodgems. Stopped the car at the other end, jumped out and ran away up a bank.

Took the police another 6 months to recapture him. Reading a report, it seems they now call him Rat Man, as he is still on the rob.

If you would like to hire dodgems or other funfair attractions for special needs use, talk to us and we would love to help provide a package tailored to your requirements especially for the less able.

Event Planning, funfair events, Funfair Rides

Hiring A Ferris Wheel

17 November 2020

Few rides are more iconic than the traditional Ferris Wheel, or big wheel as they tend to be called in the UK. But Hiring A Ferris wheel has a number of choices available.

The name derives from the wheel designed by George Washington Gale Ferris Jnr for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. There is some argument over this being the ‘original’ wheel as a certain William Somers installed 3 wooden wheels in parks in New Jersey and New York, a year earlier. A court case ensued which Somers lost, as it was ruled the Ferris wheel was sufficiently different to not infringe on his patent.

There are accounts from travelling merchants describing wheels in the Ottoman empire in the 17th century, so perhaps the real name should be ‘Ottoman Wheels!’

Whatever the true origins, big wheel hire is one of those traditional fairground rides that people associate with a funfair. Most of us will have ridden a wheel in our youth. Along with helter skelters, swing boats, dodgems and a carousel.

Wheel Sizes

The traditional type wheel is usually around 35ft in height with perhaps 16-20 cars. There are however even larger versions now available. These originally appeared on the continent, and were variously termed giant wheels, observation wheels or continental wheels. They tended initially to be erected in city centres or at theme parks and didn’t travel. Reaching huge heights, they were never really going to be practical to take to corporate events. Or smaller fairgrounds. A new breed of portable wheels have appeared that bridge the gap between the smaller UK wheels and the giant versions.

Whatever type or size you need we can supply and install a wheel to suit your event. Check us out for Hiring A Ferris Wheel.

Fun Story

The Joys Of Flight

15 November 2020
Cessna 152

And once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward; for there you have been, and there you would return.

A quote attributed to the great Leonardo Da Vinci about the joys of flight.

Whats that got to do with an events and catering company. Well nothing really. But thanks to Covid-19 rampaging around the world, the events industry has pretty much ceased to exist at the minute.

Which means there isn’t a steady stream of our misadventures and event related stories to write about. So, during the interminable lull in work, we decided to relate some of our personal stories instead.

A couple of Christmas’s ago, my significant other decided to treat me to a flying lesson as a Christmas gift. This, in her words turned out to be the worst 80 quid she ever spent, seeing as it ended up costing her bleeding thousands. Lol.

I enjoyed the lesson, but it wasn’t a case of wow, I need to fly. I actually fancied the technical challenge.

Now I admit, that the day I flew my first solo circuit, that changed to a feeling of wow, I love this. The day I made my first navex solo, (navigation exercise, basically flying away from my home airfield to another place and finding my way back), I really began to love it.

Not The Cheapest Hobby

As you can imagine it isn’t a cheap hobby. Lessons at the time were about £120 an hour. For your licence you needed to amass a minimum of 45 hours, 10 of which had to be solo.

In the event, I took I think 49, but that included a couple of night flying lessons which were an extra.

On top of the lesson costs, there is obviously some equipment that is needed, such as charts, a flight computer, ideally your own headset etc. In common with many other hobbies, you end up buying things which aren’t really necessary, but make flying easier or more enjoyable.

With the enforced down time I have had, a burst appendix grounded me for 6 weeks, just in time for the virus to hit and ground me till sod knows when. I decided to have a look at just what is in my flight back.

DeLaurentis Bag
DeLaurentis Bag

Flying for fun as a ppl holder (Private Pilots Licence), I don’t need to carry as much as a commercial pilot. So the lovely compact flight bag from Lightspeed was perfect for my needs. Although fairly small, it holds a surprising amount of kit.

Current Kit List

Currently it contains my flight log book from Aileron (a fabulous leather bound version my daughter bought me for Christmas). A selection of pens and a chinagraph (like a wax pencil that writes on anything). A fuel contamination testing kit, stall horn checker (saves a mouthful of flies cos the alternative is sucking the stall slot), my Lighspeed Zulu 3 headset, Bigatmo pilots sunglasses, aircraft safety checklist, navigation charts, Pooleys flight computer with protractor and ruler marked in nautical miles, handheld aviation radio (a backup in case both onboard comms ever fail), Smith and Wesson tactical flashlight with red light option for night flying, power pack for charging my ipad or pilot aware system, Garmin Virb camera to record flights, charging plug and leads for ipad, radio etc. And last but not least my trusty Leatherman multi tool, handy for emergency repairs.

There is also my kneeboard and Ipad flightpad which I use to run SkyDemon navigation software. Basically an aviation satnav, though much more sophisticated.

I also wear a Garmin Charlie D2 watch. Which contains a gps navigation system with a worldwide database of airports programmed in. Also providing a backup set of flight instruments, again adhering to my principles of having back ups of the backups.

Pilot-Watch
Pilot-Watch

My final bit of kit is a Pilot Aware system. Basically this transmits the position of my aircraft, whilst also receiving the positions of other similarly equipped aircraft. These are then displayed on my SkyDemon system. This helps warn me of aircraft in my vicinity that could pose a collision risk.

Pilot Aware
Pilot Aware

Catering, Event Planning, Fun Story

7 Weird Ice Cream Flavours

12 November 2020
Horse Meat Ice Cream

On our travels, and whilst developing our own range of favourite flavours, we cam across some really wacky and weird ice cream flavours. Here are a few of the bing boggling, or stomach churning examples.

Viagra Ice Cream

Viagra Ice Cream
Viagra Ice Cream

Evidently it caused a bit of controversy this one. The brainchild of a Welsh food inventor Charlie Harry Francis who created it for one of his A list celebrity clients. It is claimed that each scoop contains 25mg of viagra. Can’t see this one appearing on the shelves of Tesco.

Wasabi Ice Cream

Wasaabi Ice Cream
Wasaabi Ice Cream

Wasabi, that ultra hot Japanese delicacy made from a Japanese horseradish. This can be blisteringly hot on the palate, and is a firm favourite of our MD. We haven’t actually tried this one, and wonder if the coolness of the ice cream offsets the heat of the wasabi.

White Chocolate Banana Curry

Curry Ice Cream
Curry Ice Cream

Take a nice white chocolate melted with banana’s and fragrant Indian curry powder. It brings to mind Indian take outs and summer nights.

Goat’s Cheese With Red Cherries Ice Cream

Goats Cheese
Goats Cheese

An American concoction this one. Creamy goats cheese melded with the tart taste of roasted cherries. This one supposedly tastes like a cherry cheesecake.

Ghost Pepper Ice Cream

Ghost Pepper
VIA @MALLARDICECREAM/INSTAGRAM

A strange blend this one, the world’s hottest chili pepper blended with a sweet peppermint ice cream. Definitely one for the spice lovers. As they say indulge at your own risk.

Squid Ink Ice Cream

Squid Ink Ice Cream
Squid Ink Ice Cream

From the land of the rising sun, another way out weird option. Squid ink ice cream. Purportedly this has a fishy taste and a shocking black colour. It was originally a novelty flavour but has become more of a staple option.

Horse Meat Flavour Ice Cream

Horse Meat Ice Cream
Horse Meat Ice Cream

Definitely not on the wish list this one, there is a reason that horse meat should be kept in dog food.

If you want something a little more traditional for your wedding or event rather than these weird ice cream flavours then check out our boutique ice cream hire carts.

Fun Story, funfair events

Oktoberfest, Old Nazi’s And Customs Officers

10 November 2020

Tales Of Misadventures

A few year ago I started importing lights from a German company. They were based at a little village called Waakirchen in Southern Germany, not far from Munich.

The first order I picked up was for about 5K worth. So being the initial order I decided to drive down and collect them. The Munchen Oktoberfest was on at the time, so I decided to go for a few days and visit the event. A good mate of mine told me he would come with me so I booked a crossing from Hull, the plan being to drive the 1200 kilometers over the first day.

At the time I had a little clapped out Nissan Cherry. It was that bad when my dad bought it, that my mother wouldn’t ride in it. I loved it, it was like a little rally car, I ended up spreading it up the A1 just outside the Metro Centre in a 6 car pile up.

Nissan Cherry
Nissan Cherry

A Pile Of Cash

Now a the time, being young, and skint, I didn’t have the money readily available to pay for these lights. So the deal with my customer was that he put the money in the bank before I left. As we were loading up the car to set off, he turned up in person, apologised for not loading my bank account for me, and gave me a bag with the cash in. I shoved it under the seat and we set off.

Arrival In Deutschland And Cool Fräuleins.

When we arrived in Munich, we had a bit of trouble finding an hotel. The fact that the cities biggest event was in full swing meaning hotel rooms were in short supply, hadn’t occurred to us. We eventually managed to find a doss house in a seedy part of the city. I admit when we got in the room and it was decorated with what would now be termed LGBT posters, and the leaflet on the bed had times for the live sex shows in the hotel we were a bit perturbed, but hey, two single lads we were out on the town.

We found a rather nice little bar, pretty much empty but we had just drove 1200 KM and needed a drink. The two barmaids were absolute stunners, tall blond Aryan goddesses. I had learnt some pidgeon German, you know how to order a beer, tell a girl she had beautiful eyes, that sort of thing.

So I hit them with the full charm, like focused laser beams, thought it would knock them bandy. Bloody nothing, not even a smile. FFS we were going to have our work cut out here. I know they were supposed to be cool and Teutonic and all, but this was icily arctic.

By now the bar had filled up, when I turned round and actually took notice, it was full of young men sat kissing each other. Aah, perhaps the barmaids lack of response was for a reason.

After a bit of a pub crawl we headed off to our hotel.

The Oktoberfest

At the time, it was widely considered that the continental fairground attractions were a few years ahead of the best the UK had to offer. When we hit the Oktoberfest, we realised they were a couple of decades in front. Everything was just, bigger, faster, moderner, better decorated.

Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest

We had a full day there, including sampling their beer served in those bloody Steins, jeez, its a wonder they are not a nation of alcoholics.

After we had our fill, of the Oktoberfest and the beer. We headed back to the hotel. I had parked our car out the front of it, and just as we set off to the festival, I had opened the boot to retrieve my coat. Setting off back I put my hand in my pocket and realised I no longer had the keys. I asked Matthew if I had given them to him, I hadn’t as it turns out, I had left them in the lock of the boot. A bloody car thieves Christmas present. With 5K of someone else’s money under the drivers seat.

Feeling sick as a parrot we got back in double time, to find the car still there, with a note under the windscreen wiper saying, “Found your keys, left them in the pub over the road!”, in English to boot. Imagine if that had been say Sunderland. There would have been a note on the empty parking space saying found your keys left your car in the river Wear thanks for the cash.

Adolf And The SS

We successfully collected the lights and stuff without further incident. As we weren’t in a hurry we had a more leisurely drive back towards Holland. Coming across a really small rest stop, we decided to have a quick drink. We parked up and went to the two ladies manning it. They were rather abrupt and told us that they didn’t in fact open for 20 minutes. An elderly gent sitting at a nearby table asked us if we wanted a drink. When we nodded he gestured for us to follow him. Being 17 and a bit naive we did so.

He took us to a house over the road and down into the basement. Which happened to be a fully kitted out bar, something that would put some commercial establishments to shame. He poured us all a beer. While Matthew was trying to make small talk with the guy, I wandered around the room. One wall was covered in photos and I was interested to see them. When I got close up, it turns out they were all framed pictures of Adolf Hitler with groups of SS men. The largest photo had Adolf stood with a young officer. I couldn’t be certain but it looked a little like the guy who had brought us down there.

Having recently seen the film Boys from Brazil, and in my teenage imagination expecting a guy with a dentists drill to pop out any minute. I hurried Matthew along, thanked our host and we lived to tell the tale.

Took All This Lot For A Holiday Did We Sir

When we reached dear old blighty, we disembarked the ferry and set off towards the immigration sheds. Now, if you have ever done this, you will know there are two lanes. Goods to declare, and nothing to declare. I promptly drove into the nothing to declare side.

An officer stopped me with a wave of his hand. “Are you aware sir, that this is the nothing to declare lane.” all very polite and congenial.

“I certainly am officer”, says I with my most respectful grin.

Now I should say at this point, that the pile of equipment we had purchased whilst in Germany filled the car to the roof. In fact the seats were pushed as far forward as they would go so we could fit everything in.

“So you have nothing to declare son, is that correct?” he retorted.

“Yup” says I. “Oh, so you have taken this lot for a holiday to the Oktoberfest have you, Bloody well pull over there and don’t move till I come see you”, well, his politeness didn’t last.

We sat there for the best part of an hour whilst everybody else disembarked. When he finally came to see us he had a more authoritarian attitude.

“Now son, would you like to explain why you don’t think you have anything to declare when your car is full to the gunnals?”

“Yes says I meekly, here is my receipt, as you can see I paid VAT in Germany for everything, and as their rate is higher than ours, I don’t need to pay you, sir”

Oh his face was a picture, he basically told us to piss off home.

Munich Oktoberfest

Event Planning, funfair events, Funfair Rides, General

Planning A Corporate Event

7 November 2020

How To Choose A Corporate Events Theme

This should be first on your list when planning A Corporate Event . Setting a theme will dictate many of the requirements for things like catering, entertainment and the size of the venue you will need.

Certain times of the year lend themselves to themes. Mid December and a Christmas party can be just that, Christmas. Middle of the summer it doesn’t work as well, though we have actually done Christmas at that time.

Are there any major sporting events on, tennis themed parties are popular around Wimbledon time, or a football theme to celebrate the World cup, though if you are English there will probably be very little to celebrate.

Fancy dress is always one of our favourites. People seem to really let their hair down when they start dressing in character and it seems to amplify the fun.

Finding A Perfect Venue

This needs careful consideration. Most venues will also provide the food for your event, and this can really make or break it. Your theme and entertainment will to some extent dictate your venue requirements. Are you thinking of having something like funfair attractions as part of the event, if so then you won’t be able to use a city centre hotel, as you will need somewhere with it’s own grounds to accommodate them.

If you are not having outdoor entertainment, then it allows a wider selection of locations. Traditionally events were held in ‘fancy’ hotels. This might still be the case depending on the expectations of your guests. However there are some really quirky venues popping up now, places such as Hawker House, a large warehouse type venue, with resident street food vendors and plenty of space is one we have worked at in the past, this gives you pretty much a blank canvas, though with an on trend industrial feel.

If you are trying to plan a party for a small amount of party, say an office with 20 people or so, then it might pay for you to go down the shared party route. This is a venue that provides the catering, entertainment, venue etc, and then hires out tables. So you can take as little as half a dozen guests, but still get the big event experience.

Planning The Catering

This one is the biggie. Nothing can break an event like the quality of the food. At one time everyone expected a 3 course meal, hotel style, and if your guests are of this persuasion then that’s the way to go. On the other hand, there is so much more to choose from now. A younger crowd will delight in street food style catering, and that opens up a wide vista of choice. You will need a venue that allows you to bring external caterers in, and make sure there are no ‘corkage’ charges for food. We once provided a hot dog cart to an exhibition client, they ended up being billed for more by the venue for the hot dogs than we actually charged them.

Gourmet-Burger-Streetfood-Stall
Gourmet-Burger-Streetfood-Stall

Planning A Corporate Event, Entertainment

After the food this is the next big one. The usual is something like a wandering magician, some music on arrival, perhaps a live band followed by a DJ and disco. Booooring! Well, not the magician, we like them, but the rest is formulaic. Kick it up a beat and give the guests something to do. Some competitive games on arrival, fake paparazzi or a themed photo booth. All a bit different to the norm. Something like a dodgem ride never fails to impress if you have the room and budget. In fact we have provided full scale fairgrounds to some of our larger clients for the maximum wow factor.

We have looked at this from the point of view of it being an adults event, however many companies run family fun days for their staff, so don’t forget to factor in entertainment for all age groups.

DIY, Or Bringing In The Professionals

This depends on your budget, and whether you have someone who is not only capable of planning an event, but more importantly actually wants to do it.

Professional planners are not cheap, but, they not only save you time, but can in many cases save you costs, as they will have deals in place with caterers, venues and entertainers. So don’t dismiss them purely on a cost basis.

Many planners are happy to put together a proposal without cost, so you could always have 2 or 3 pitch for your work. With the time saving element, they may be the way to go.

Catering, Event Planning

3 Christmas Treats For Your Events

5 November 2020
Mulled Wine Cart For Hire

With the Christmas party season rapidly approaching, here are some of our best Christmas treats for your events.

Hot Roast Chestnut Cart

Hot chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Memories of childhood, when Britannia ruled the waves, politicians were honest and kids respected their elders. Well perhaps not that far back, and I doubt politicians were ever honest. But the aroma of freshly roasting chestnuts is still a memory of Christmas in many parts of the country. Available on a range of carts for both indoor and outdoor use.

Chestnut Cart For Hire
Chestnut Cart For Hire

Spicy Mulled Wine

The perfect complement to chestnuts, hot spicy wine. Originally adding spices and heating the wine was a way to keep drinking wine that had spoiled, to save wasting it. But over the years it has become a classic favourite at Christmas time. Known in other countries as Glögg and gluhwein, this is the perfect reception drink for those cold winter months. We can also provide a fabulous non alcoholic version.

Mulled Wine Cart Hire For Weddings And Events
Mulled Wine Cart Hire For Weddings And Events

Minced Pies

A great accompaniment to mulled wine, the classic mince pie. Ever so funny when foreign guests are present as they try to reconcile Christmas with eating a pie full of minced meat. We have provided a mixed mulled wine and minced pies cart to many shopping centres and indeed supermarkets such as Tesco’s.

Minced Pie
Minced Pie

We have a selection of stalls available for chestnuts or mulled wine, from our classic engine cart, to the rustic bar we use for the Mailbox Shopping Centre In Birmingham.

Whichever Christmas treats you choose for your events, they are sure to be a hit with your guests on.

Event Planning, funfair events

The 7 Best Funfair Games For Your Christmas Party

1 November 2020

There is a large selection of funfair games for your Christmas party, from the timeless hook a duck, to themed Christmas shooting galleries.

Over the years we have provided thousands of stalls to different events so have a good understanding of which work the best, not only at parties, but at weddings and corporate events.

There is no one size fits all, as it does depend on the age of the guests, type of party etc, and talking to us would allow us to put a package together to suit your specific requirements.

Hook A Duck

We have included this one first, just to point out that it is a game we DON’T recommend.

Everyone assumes this is the go to game if you have young kids, because it’s a prize every time, and something they remember from their childhood. The truth is that there are no games as boring. Because it’s usually used as a prize every time game, after a couple of hours the prizes are all gone and no one bothers playing it. Something like a coconut shie, even with the prizes gone, the guests will keep playing just for the prestige of showing they can do it.

And if you want a prizes every time for the kids, well we can do that with any of the games.

Hook A Duck Hire
Hook A Duck Hire

Coconut Shie

Now this is one that we always recommend. Its another of those classic fairground games that everyone remembers. By varying the throwing distance, you can make it easier for the kids and harder for the grown ups. If you are putting together a package of games this should always be on the list.

Coconut Shie
Coconut Shie

Tin Can Alley

This one is one of our harder games, throw the soft balls and knock all of the cans off the shelf. It makes a good second game for events with adults, as this really brings the competitive streak out in everyone. We help younger players out by removing some of the cans and giving them extra throws, but its one we recommend for the older crowd.

Tin Can Alley
Tin Can Alley

Darts An All Time Classic

This is one of those super versatile games. If you need it difficult, no probs, 3 darts and score over 50 with 3 separate numbers. Sort the men from the boys. Want an easier one, bust the balloon, not as easy as it looks, but still doable by the kids.

Darts Game
Darts Game

Test Your Strength

Another all time classic. Again a perfect mix for all ages, the big boys have to ring the bell to win, the kids can score over 5. But its not totally about strength, the peg needs to be struck perfectly level. We have seen small ladies ring the bell, whilst big hairy bikers struggle to get past the half way mark.

Test Your Strength For Hire
Test Your Strength For Hire

Hoopla

One of the easier games, and again suitable for all ages. Throw the ring over the block, but remember, it has to lay flat on the table, just hanging over the prizes doesn’t count, Stevie Wonder could do that. When we used to operate at traditional funfairs, this game caused more arguments then all the others combined, because people didn’t bother reading the rules.

Hoopla Game
Hoopla Game

A personal favourite, mainly because growing up when I started out, my first stall was a shooting gallery. On the traditional funfairs we used pellet firing air rifles. Unfortunately as many of our events are weddings and corporate parties, where alcohol is involved, we now fire corks.

Cowboy Shooting Gallery For Hire
Cowboy Shooting Gallery For Hire

Most clients tend to go for a package of three games, our usual recommendation is coconut shie, cans and hoopla. But of course the client is always right so we can put a package together from these games and

  • ball in a bucket
  • ring toss
  • ball in a milk churn
  • penny on a plate
  • knock the teeth out
  • Mini Crossbows
  • Mini Basketball
  • Penalty Shoot Out

We can also design and build custom games for corporate promotions with custom branding and even custom games. These are the best funfair games for your Christmas party, but work equally well at weddings or summer events.

Drop us a line if you want to hire funfair games.