Facilities

• Car parking: Including parking for the disabled and for coaches.
• Courtesy bus: Oakham train station – Birdfair site and Blue car park – Birdfair site.
• Toilets: Including disabled facilities.
• Catering: Stands and barbeque.
• Campsite: Basic camping facility for tents and caravans- NOW FULLY BOOKED.
• Fair Mobility: Mobility scooter hire service. 
•  APMS: First Aid cover.
• Bicycle parking: Yes.
• Recycling

Catering

There will be a wide range of catering services available to visitors at this year’s Birdfair, to satisfy everyone’s requirements, and keep you refreshed and fuelled up for the day.

The main catering marquee will be open from the moment you arrive, and you could start your day with a generous breakfast, or choose from a wide choice of hot and cold refreshments, including Fairtrade coffee or English and speciality teas. Full breakfast’s are served from 8am. Local produce is used wherever possible, and we have some of the tastiest homemade meals you will find at any outdoor event.

Throughout the day there will be an extensive range of sandwiches available, homemade cakes and desserts. For something quick there is a full variety of chocolate confectionary, fair trade cookies, crisps, snacks and fresh fruit.

Appetising, homemade full hot meals are served at lunchtime, as well as jacket potatoes, which are served with a large selection of tasty fillings. There will also be a delicious salad bar, selection of seafoods and hot sausage rolls available. Afternoon tea and cream teas are available in the afternoon.

A wide range of soft drinks are offered, not to forget the separate bar serving beers from two local breweries – The Langton Brewery and The Grainstore Brewery. They are providing beers produced specifically for the Birdfair, as well as a selection of lager, Guinness, cider and wines.

Pop into the Hot Roast Pork stand near the Optics marquee for a hot pork roll, a filling jacket potato, or a pint of Birdfair Bitter. Here you will also find a selection of hot and chilled drinks, Fairtrade coffee, sandwiches and snacks.

Visit the BBQ next to the main catering marquee and sample hot dogs made with local sausages from Bates Butchers or the renowned Northfield Farm beef burgers. Vegetarian sausages and burgers are also available. This is also where you will find the Stir Fry area, with a selection sumptuous stir frys and Thai stir frys on offer. For something a bit different, try a freshly made crepe, served with sweet or savoury fillings.

Full hot meals are also being served from 5.30 pm on the Friday evening, just prior to the Birdfair Celebrity Lecture.

With multiple coffee and tea outlets, and ice cream sales around the site, and refreshment trolleys circulating all day, you are never far from some substantial or light refreshments.

Courtesy Bus

We run a courtesy bus service between the Fair and Oakham railway station. On Friday and Saturday the bus meets all trains arriving between 9:15 and 11:30 am and returns between 3:30 and 5:30 pm. We will also meet all Sunday trains but please contact National Train Enquiries on 0845 7484950 or see www.nationalrail.co.uk for a Sunday service update.

Fair Mobility

Mobility scooter hire service. Electric scooters, powerchairs and wheelchairs for disabled, elderly or anyone with a mobility problem.
Please arrange in advance by calling the booking line on 07553365254. 

The hire fee for scooters is £20 per day, and for manual wheelchairs it is £10

Visit the website www.fair-mobility.org.uk

Campsite- NOW FULLY BOOKED

There will be camping available next to the Birdfair site again this year. Facilities are very basic and include:

• Stand pipe
• Toilets Waste water disposal
• Chemical toilet waste disposal

The cost will be £6.00 per night, per plot, to be paid on arrival. To book a plot, please contact the Birdfair office, giving your name, vehicle registration and the nights you will be staying.

The campsite is located in the field next to the Green car park. As you near the site, track marshals will guide you towards the camping area.

Bringing your Dog?

GUIDE DOGS ONLY at the British Birdwatching Fair.

Any visitor arriving with a dog at the entrance to the showground will not be permitted access. Visitors arriving with a dog will be directed to a shady area in Yellow Carpark where there will be a Warden who will regularly check the parked cars and notify Main Information if there is a problem. The Yellow Carpark can only be accessed from the Hambleton Gate.

WE STRONGLY ADVISE THAT DOGS ARE NOT BROUGHT TO THE EVENT.

The organisers of the British Birdwatching Fair cannot take any responsibility for distress to any animal left in a parked car.

Recycling at the Birdfair – have you got the right ‘bins’?

As regular visitors to the Birdfair will know, we have been operating a recycling scheme over the past few years to deal with our waste in the most environmentally sensitive way.  Thanks to all the efforts from our visitors, exhibitors and the Recycling Team, last year we recycled at least 79% of our 9.5 tonnes of waste – a truly excellent achievement.  Not only does this recycling reduce the impact on the environment and our carbon footprint, but it has the added bonus of lessening the financial cost of waste disposal for Birdfair.  This allows more money to go directly to the Birdfair conservation project.                                                                           

Our recycling scheme is based on a number of strategically sited recycling points around the Birdfair grounds’, together with special arrangements for exhibitors.  However, not everything is perfect.  Whilst the majority of people use the recycling scheme very responsibly and select the correct bins (and also bags in the case of exhibitors) for waste disposal, a minority don’t.  This causes a sizeable level of contamination which requires much hand-sorting of the waste by our volunteer Recycling Team (photos).  This year, we are therefore seeking support from everyone at the Birdfair to dispose of their waste responsibly, by placing all recyclables in the right bins and bags and only using the landfill containers for non-recyclables.  In this way we will increase our recycling rate and make Birdfair a lot more enjoyable for our Recycling Team.  Thank you.