The annual Jesters Charity Fair took place towards the end of September. This event which has become an annual institution has since its inception been organised and run by the Pattaya Jesters, a group of serious motor cycle enthusiasts led by the indomitable ‘Woody’ who in addition to all this also finds time to run the long standing TQ bar. The purpose of the event is to raise money for various children’s charities principle amongst which is ‘The fountain of life’ which provides homes and support for many of the unwanted children that unfortunately inhabit this part of the world. Although the annual fair and the subsequent Jesters Night at Shenanigans (which took place the following Saturday) are the two principal planks in the fund raising, in fact the whole process is a year round activity, and no sooner is one year over than the Jesters start planning the next one, and seeking corporate sponsorship. The banner above lists the Platinum Sponsors, those companies or organisations that have donated the largest sums. The fair for the second year was held at the Diana Driving Range in North Pattaya and as has been the custom for several years, was preceded by a charity cycle run where each of the many entrants was sponsored to complete either a 30 km or for the more adventurous a 50 km run. The fair itself is mainly organised for children (the adults get their fun at the Shenanigans evening), and as such the raffle mostly consists of prizes suitable for them. Most of the events are also child orientated, with such activities as football coaching, Punch and Judy shows, tug of war, horse rides etc. In addition there were a large number of stalls set-up surrounding the main arena, some selling food and drink, some selling handicrafts and some promoting various charities or institutions. The weather this year was overcast but apart from a small drizzle in mid afternoon remained dry, and a large crowd turned up to enjoy the day’s proceedings. Throughout the day, tickets were sold for the main raffle and also the Lions club organised a prize draw for guessing the name of a large teddy bear to support their principle charity project.. The culmination of the day’s events was therefore the draw for the prizes in the raffle. A selection of photos of the day’s events follows, as usual to view any of these full size, just click on the appropriate thumbnail picture.   And now a brief review of the fun night that followed at Shenanigans (sorry no pics - forgot the camera). Following on from the Jesters fair, the following Saturday evening as has again become the custom, the final fund raising for Care for Kids 2003 took place at Shenanigans pub and restaurant. Mine host Kim had once again kindly given over the whole venue to the evenings proceedings, the highlights of which were an auction of donated items, some of considerable value, a series of spot prizes for people doing silly things and the final grand raffle with serious prizes this time, the main one being a round trip ticket (leastwise I think it was round trip) to Australia donated by Quantas and British Airways. Intertwined with these events were a series of musical interludes provided by the best of Pattaya music including Pop’s all stars and the ever enjoyable Declan. The auction was again conducted by that professional cattle auctioneer from Canada, Eddie Henheffer, who as last year gave us a superb demostration of how to extract the maximum amout of cash from bidders. Amongst the items bid for was a large Chinese cabinet, a gold Bhudda image, a Rugby ball signed by the entire England team, a David Beckham signed football shirt as well as one signed by the entire Manchester United team, and last but  not least David Beckham’s balls - or to be more precise a pair of footballs signed by the man  himself and ably shown to the bidders by two sisters from the Fountain of Life. After the auction came the prize draw and then it was turn of the bands to see out the rest of the night, starting with the one and only Elvis (or least a Thai version), followed by an amazing duet from Harpic and Victoria, and on and on with various acts into the wee small hours. At one point the music was interrupted as it was annouced that the total sum raised by all the Jesters events this year had now reached a record sum of over 4 million Baht. A truly amazing figure considering that it only comes from Pattaya. Only problem is next year they will have to try to beat it - let’s hope for the kids that they succeed.   Back to Top of Page