THE ICONIC THORNDON FAIR IS OUR SCHOOL'S ANNUAL FUNDRAISER
For nearly five decades, the Thorndon Fair has been a cherished tradition, thanks to our amazing parent volunteers, bringing together families, friends and the wider Wellington region community for a fun day out.
It is also Thorndon School's major fundraiser, with the funds raised going directly towards supporting our diverse and vibrant tamariki.
The response to the 2026 Thorndon Fair from the community has been incredible. Our stallholder spaces have already sold out, and the countdown to Sunday, 6 December, is on!
We expect to welcome more than 20,000+ visitors and 250 stallholders to the fair, and we need your support to make it happen. We are calling on parents, caregivers, tamariki, and kaiako to join us, volunteer with us, and help make this event happen.
Your support will make a world of difference to our school community!
Keep an eye on this page and within school communications for timelines, volunteer call outs and eventually our volunteer sign up form. In the meantime if you want to be involved in the committee level, please reach out to fairhelpers@thorndonprimary.school.nz
ABOUT THE FAIR
Thorndon Fair is held annually on the first Sunday of December along Tinakori Road in Wellington.
The street is closed to traffic from 10am to 4pm and transforms into a bustling community marketplace, with more than 250 stallholders coming from across New Zealand, including Auckland and Christchurch! Visitors can browse a wide variety of products and experiences from street food and desserts to handmade pottery, ceramics, art, fashion, accessories, crafts, toys and games, and much more.
Together, these attractions help make the fair one of the capital’s most popular and enduring community events since 1977.
WHY VOLUNTEER?
The Thorndon Fair is Thorndon School's major fundraiser. Every dollar raised helps the school level-up its learning resources and provide our students with every opportunity to succeed. Last year, thanks to the generous support of more than 20,000 visitors, the fair raised $44,000, helping to fund the school's arts and music programme. This year, we hope to achieve similar success to be able to support programmes that will continue to benefit our children.
Volunteering is fun and rewarding.
Hosting a fair of this scale is a massive undertaking and takes the whole school community to make it happen. A dedicated group of parent volunteers works behind the scenes throughout the year.
For the Fair day, we ask every school family to play a part.
We need at least 120 volunteers to bring the event to life. With most roles requiring just two hours, there are plenty of ways to get involved.
Every family has a part to play. What will yours be this year?
VOLUNTEER ROLES
We have a range of volunteer roles available leading up to and on the day of the event.
Learn more about those roles below.
GATE VOLUNTEERS
You’ll be collecting gold-coin donations from Fair goers, and marshaling to make sure people enter/leave the Fair safely. Shifts are 2-hours throughout the day.
Coin collecting at the Gates is a great role for children to get involved so bring them along too.
SET UP CREW
This is a 7am start – you’ll be helping set up the Fair site and school stalls.
You’ll finish by 9.15am.
Some lifting involved!
CLOSE DOWN CREW
Start at 2.45pm and help close the Fair, pack up the school stalls and clear the site.
You’ll finish about 4.30pm.
Some lifting involved.
SCHOOL STALL & KIDS FUN ZONE
Sell, sell, sell!
We have a range of things on offer at our school stall including avocados, games, temporary tattoos and more!
FAIR HQ
Fair HQ is information-central for Fair goers and stallholders.
This is a good role to find out more about how the Fair runs.
STALLHOLDER CARPARK
Not exciting enough to get a photo but an important role to provide stallholders access to their vehicles.
WASTE WARRIORS
We want to keep the Thorndon fair as green as possible. Our waste warriors help recycling efforts by manning stations and making sure fair goers know which bins to use so we minimise waste as much as we can.
BEFORE & AFTER THE FAIR
If you can’t help on Fair day, or can do another role, volunteers before hand, and a few afterwards as well.
PRE FAIR SUPPORT (Sat 5th Dec afternoon)
including avocado sorting – kids welcome!
STALL MARKING TEAM (28th & 29th Nov AND the 5th Dec)
This is a crucial preparation role to make sure all goes smoothly on Fair day. You’ll get full instructions for marking up the pavements with stall sites. You need to be available for about 2 hours on two dates.
PACK AWAY CREW (Mon 7th Dec)
The aftermath – help sort out the Fair kit so it’s ready to do it all again next year.
Monday after the fair.
GET EVEN MORE INVOLVED!
STEP UP AND LEAD A TEAM!
Team Leaders are key to running the Fair on the day and in the lead-up period – they run our Stalls, manage the Gates, lead the Set Up and Pack Up crews, and organize the Signs, Leaflets and more. Lots of support provided. Tick the leaders box on the sign-up form and we’ll be in touch.
GET INVOLVED IN THE ORGANISATION TEAM
Get involved now to see what happens behind-the-scenes.
Email fairhelpers@thorndonprimary.school.nz to learn more about how you can contribute.
THE FACES OF THE FAIR
Brooks & Jenny
4 years of running the Ring Toss game with their family
"I love working together with my family to run our activity.
We love seeing the kids’ smiles when they win a prize - it makes the whole day worth it."
Meet Nikki
12 years of volunteering, trying out every role at the fair (even the organising committee) always offering very creative ideas for stalls!
"I love the buzz of the fair - the hard work, the laughter, the stunning high-vis vest and raising money for the school."
Last year was Nikki’s final hoorah, so with big shoes to fill, we’re always looking for new parents to join the team, share ideas, and help make the Fair even more amazing!
SPREAD THE WORD!
Another really simple way to support the success of the fair is to spread the word!
Follow us on social media, click 'Going' on the Facebook event,
and share with friends and whānau.
If you have any questions email us at fairhelpers@thorndonprimary.school.nz
