Kirkcaldy country fayre organisers 'overwhelmed' by massive turnout at event

After a two year hiatus the fayre was set to make a spectacular return last weekend.

But after the arrival of an estimated 3000 plus people on the Saturday, organisers were forced to temporarily halt wristband sales to ensure correct health and safety protocols were maintained.

As well as the unexpected surge of visitors, problems were exasperated after the security company hired to work the event didn’t turn up, leading to a couple of incidents which dismayed the team behind the town’s big event.

Paul Grubb, managing director of Kirkcaldy company World of Parties which set up the fayre, said: “We didn’t expect the numbers that we had on the Saturday and as a result we were totally overwhelmed.

"To make matters worse, the security company we had hired to help with queues, parking, and crowd control never showed up.”

Looking back on a busy weekend, he added: "It really felt like the whole of Kirkcaldy turned up.”We had to temporarily stop ticket sales as it was becoming a health and safety issue.”

Although the event experienced some teething problems in its first return since lockdown, Paul said that he has had some great feedback from people who attended.

"They said the fayre was great value for money, but unfortunately these have been overshadowed by a couple of despicable incidents.

"Two members of our staff were assaulted. One was spat on by a woman who was told that she and her family would have to wait to get in, and another staff member was slapped by a young boy after being asked to wait his turn on an inflatable while his parents watched and did nothing.

"I’m so angry about this.

"On Sunday we completely changed the queuing system and posted extra staff to combat any further problems.”

He added: “Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, and a health and safety inspector were all onsite who assured us that the event was safe and everything was above board.”