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Mortimer Fun Day Back for 2025

After a seven-year hiatus, the ever-popular Mortimer Fun Day will return on Saturday 05 July. 

The event will be held on Mortimer Fairground and will be hosted by Mortimer Village Partnership (MVP) and Mortimer Music Live (MML). 

For those new to the village, this event has been a beloved tradition for over a decade.  During the day, entrance will be free of charge to all.  Any help you can give in running this event would be really appreciated,  follow this link:  Click to View Volunteer Opportunities on SignUp

 

Image of a dinosaur for the Mortimer Funday activities

 

You can expect exciting arena acts including a walkabout dinosaur and a thrilling parkour demonstration (see below) alongside local dance, singing and acrobatic groups.  

Classic summer fete activities including coconut shies and welly-wanging will also be happening! Local clubs and societies will be running these activities, giving them a chance to fundraise while connecting with the wider community. And, of course, no Fun Day would be complete without a Beer Tent, offering local beers and a selection of refreshing summer drinks.   

@pedal V Parkour' arena act to perform at Mortimer Fun Day 2025

The schedule of arena events for the afternoon will be roughly as follows:

12.00   EDCDance (Mortimer school children)

12.30   Bezerkaz Circus

13.00   All Stars Theatre Academy

13.30  Dino invasion

14.00  Pedal Power v Parkour + BMX

14.45  Stagecoach Burghfield Common

15.20  3-7 year old Fancy dress parade with prizes ('Heroes & Everyday Heroes')

15.30  Dinosaur Invasion

15.55  Raffle Draw

16.00  Pedal Power v Parkour + BMX

16.40 Ta Da's

In the evening, the fun continues with a special ticketed music event brought to the village by MML. 

 

 

The Syrian Baker

The Syrian Baker is the latest production brought to our village by MVP. Travelling from village hall to village hall, Farnham Maltings arrived in their van and bought us ‘The Syrian Baker’, written by Kevin Dyer and directed by Gavin Stride.  From the minute we walked into St, John’s Hall, we could smell the coffee, see the string lights twinkling and delight in the beautifully set tables with flowers,  seeds and spices … and we just knew it was going to be another outstanding evening of theatre in Mortimer. 

With almost 5% of the world’s population on the move, who are desperate to get away from troubled cities, this is a story of those who have decided to go home despite the state of their country.

With three members in the cast, we were taken on a journey of life in Syria, the heat, the smells, the destruction of their homes and way of life, to finding love and loosing it all – and then rebuilding new lives and starting over – all while making Markook flat bread, pouring cups of Syrian coffee and sharing their Maamoul cakes and Hummus.  After the show, the audience were invited to share and enjoy the bread and trimmings and we gathered round the Tava, an upturned traditional metal plate, to watch them bake the bread and the hall was filled with goodwill and great conversation as the audience had a chance to talk to one another as well as the cast, crew, director and writer. 

This show is a human story about coming home, knowing where you belong and how small actions can make a big difference in one's life and in re-building a community. It is a play about humanity, hope and courage told with affection, irrepressible humour and bread …..  because without bread nothing else will happen!  But this also challenged our thinking and made me think again about how we all have so much more in common than we realise and how we all just want the same things in life.   A safe home, a caring community, a loving family, work  …. and bread!   

It left me feeling even more grateful for the life we have in Mortimer and want to say thank you so much to the Mortimer Village Partnership Team for bringing us another fantastic evening full of humour, hope, courage ….. and bread!  The food was great, but the food for thought was even better. 

Gael Nicholls

Mortimer

The Syrian Baker, performed at St. John’s Hall, Mortimer on Saturday, 9 October 2021