A school fete is a huge day of effort, and it almost always ends the same way: at four in the afternoon, just as families are tiring and stalls start packing up, the crowd drains away and takes its wallets with it. The best school fete entertainment idea I know fixes exactly that. Add an outdoor movie night as the evening finale, and the fete does not end at four, it rolls into a second, relaxed session that keeps families on site, sells another round of food and drink, and sends everyone home on a high. Here is how Perth schools bolt a movie night onto the fete.
Why a Movie Night Is the Best School Fete Entertainment
Fetes make most of their money from food, drink and stalls, and all of those stop earning the moment families leave. A movie night gives people a reason to stay, or to come back after dinner, which stretches your highest-margin trading, the sausage sizzle, the drinks, the ice creams, into the evening. It also transforms the feel of the day: instead of a tired pack-up, the fete builds to a genuine highlight, families on rugs under a big screen as the sun goes down. For the same volunteer base you already have on the day, it adds hours of trading and a memorable finish.
Which Screen for a Fete
Fete crowds are large, so this is community-screen territory. The 5m community screen from $600 seats up to around 300 and suits most school fetes, and the 8m screen from $1,100 covers a big whole-school fete up to 1,200. Both are fully operated with a PA that carries announcements across the grounds, handy for your raffle draw or thank-yous. We can set the screen up during the afternoon around the stalls so it is ready to go the moment the light drops. The screen size guide helps you match the size to your crowd.
Timing the Transition
The trick is a smooth handover from fete to film. As the stalls wind down in the late afternoon, keep the food and drink stalls open, spread the word that the movie starts at dusk, and let families settle onto the oval. In spring and early summer the picture is crisp from around 7pm; our darkness guide has the exact times so you can print the right start on your fete flyer.
A Second Revenue Session
The Licence a Fete Screening Needs
A fete is a public event, so the film screening needs a screening licence, and a personal or school streaming account does not cover it. It is inexpensive and I sort it with you when you book. The full detail is in my screening licence guide for WA.
Film Picks for a Fete Crowd
Go broad and bright: a recent animated hit pulls the whole family, and pick for the youngest present since everything feels bigger outdoors at night. You supply the film through your own device; the projector takes a standard HDMI feed.
A Fete-to-Film Run Sheet
Adding a Movie Night to Your Fete
Keep the crowd trading longer
Hold the food and drink stalls open, spread the word that the film starts at dusk, and the fete rolls into an evening that trades for hours more instead of draining away at four. For the same volunteer base you already have on the day, it adds a whole second session and a memorable finish. Instead of a tired late-afternoon pack-up, the day builds to families on rugs under a big screen as the sun goes down.
Set up around the stalls
We install the 5m or 8m screen during the afternoon, working around your stalls, so it is ready the moment the light drops with no gap between the fete and the film. Both are fully operated with a PA for your raffle and thank-yous.
The fundraising side
A small movie-session ticket or gold-coin entry adds a clean revenue line on top of the fete, and the canteen keeps earning to a captive crowd. For pricing and the canteen method, our school fundraiser guide lays it out.
Lock your fete date
Tell me your expected crowd and date on the contact page and I will handle the screen, the delivery and the licence. See the schools and community page for the screens, and print the dusk start time on your fete flyer.
What is included, and how to book
Every community and school hire is all-inclusive: the screen, a matched projector, a professional PA, delivery, setup, full operation on the night and pack-down, with free delivery within 20km of Kwinana. Not sure which size fits your crowd, our screen size guide matches the screen to your numbers, and our weather policy sets out the wet-weather plan. For the fundraising method see the school movie night fundraiser guide, and the schools and community page for the full range. Send your crowd, venue and date through the contact page and we will match the screen and sort the screening licence in one email. For a larger or council-run programme our council programme guide and the community events page are worth a look, and we bring a silent battery inverter for sites where mains power is a walk from the seating.