Welcome to autumn: Alverstoke's Michaelmas fair returns

Once again, the Green Road was closed for a day of stalls, dancing, live music and festivities.

Gosport Rotary Club teamed up with St Mary’s Church to host this year’s festival which featured marching bands, Morris dancers and plenty of food and drink for the crowds.

Diana Bate, of the Women’s Institute, has been attending the event for the past 20 years.

This year, she and 15 others took turns to work on their stall supporting the parish regeneration fund.

Diana said: ‘The fair gives a very positive message. It is absolutely essential to the area. We were selling raffle tickets and raising money for the fund.

‘The fair is all about community. People decorated their houses and opened their doors to greet the public.

‘It’s amazing how we fit so much entertainment into such a small place. People travel from far away to visit.’

Crowds were entertained by the marching band as they drummed and marched their way through the village and men from The Gosport Shed choir sang through the afternoon.

Stalls lined the streets selling a variety of local produce including cider, cheese, home-made cakes and knitted items. Charity stalls raised money for organisations including Macmillan.

Rotary club member Kenneth Eckersley said: ‘Our big community event has been running for about 27 years. We usually get around 3,000 visitors in the village. It’s so popular we actually have a huge waiting list of businesses wanting to get as tall at the fair, but for health and safety reasons we need enough space for the live music, stalls and children’s activities.

‘We start setting up at 8.30am but preparation began months ago. In two months we will probably start planning next year’s event.

‘The most important thing is that we keep the festival going. It’s a fantastic day for everyone and really brings the community together.’