MORE than 3,000 people attended The South Downs Green Fair, near East Meon, over the weekend.
The annual fair is held at The Sustainability Centre, on the site of the former Royal Navy Signal School HMS Mercury.
Fair organiser Christine Seaward said: “Our mission is to demonstrate, develop and promote knowledge, skills, technologies and lifestyles that improve people’s quality of life without damaging the local and global environment.”
In line with centre’s ethos, the fair included activities such as cooking over an open fire, crafting country coat hooks, medicinal herb walks, chalk carving, and story-telling.
There was also live music in the local ales bar, creating a friendly and chilled atmosphere at the annual one-day festival last Sunday.
The fair operates under a green charter with all the stalls chosen for their sustainable credentials, and waste from the fair is carefully managed to minimise landfill.
As part of the charter, food served during the day was entirely local, organic, and delicious, added Christine. Talks during the day by authors, architects, natural building experts and heritage and wildlife gardeners, included practical and inspiring ways to ‘green up’ homes and gardens.
The fair is an important fundraiser for the Earthworks Trust charity which runs the centre, which opened in 1995.
But it is also about inspiring people to lead greener, healthier and happy lives, said Christine.
She added; “The choices we make shape our world.
“We hope that people took something away with them from the fair that will lead to changes big and small.
“The Green Fair is a special event and it just keeps getting better every year.”
Fair goers were also able to join the new Friends of The Sustainability Centre group, whose emblem is a hare.
Funds raised on the day will go towards running the centre, and a £1.5m appeal to convert one of the two former navy buildings on the site into a learning centre.
For more information about the centre, and its appeal, visit the website at: www.sustainability-centre.org