AROUND 20 hot air balloons will be the star attractions at a new fundraising event at Tavistock College next month, which it is hoped will attract many local groups to join together to raise funds for good causes.

Organised by Tavistock Lions Club, Tavistock Community Fayre on Saturday, April 27, will be open to charities, schools, clubs or groups that can attend with any type of fundraising activity or just a stall promoting their organisation.

There will also be food outlets and a licensed bar run by Tavistock Round Table as well as live music and bouncy castles and inflatables for the children.

Gates will open at 2pm and entrance will be free but there will be a small charge for car parking at a site further down Crowndale Road.

Some 20 hot air balloons and their pilots and crew will be on hand to talk to the spectators about ballooning and the equipment and hopefully organise some inflation competitions. As a grand finale to the fayre and weather permitting, there will be a massed ascent of the balloons, starting around 6.30pm.

A Lions Club spokesman said: 'The members of the Lions Club of Tavistock are very keen to bring back ballooning to Tavistock, as it has been such a popular and spectacular event, but history has shown that its success is very weather-dependent and a great deal of hard work can go into staging a fiesta with little return if the weather is against you.

'Organising it this way, the main event will be the community fayre and the balloons will be the icing on the cake.'

The Lions Club hopes the fayre will be a great opportunity to join with many other local organisations in one place for a common cause, so those wishing to participate should e-mail Lions Club member Janet Nowell on [email protected]">[email protected] or call 0845 8334807 for further details.