SOUTH EAST

An egg-cellent adventure
Tandridge Village, Glebe Field, Tandridge Lane, Tandridge, Surrey
This traditional village fête is home to the national egg-throwing championships. Competitors must use hen eggs supplied by the fête committee. Entrants pair up and throw three eggs in turn, which must be caught by the partner. Catchers are advised to wear a waterproof jacket and goggles. July 11.

Sack race with a hound in tow
Kingsclere Church, Newbury, Berkshire
This year the annual dog show is premiering a sack race. But before the RSPCA starts growling, owners will race in sacks, while leading their dogs. August 31, free.

Cupcakes and the Caribbean
Lambeth Country Show, Brockwell Park, London
This country-in-town show is a combination of the best of English fêtes and Caribbean culture, a partnership that has evolved over 30-odd years. You’ll find homemade cupcakes alongside corn-on-the-cob and jerk chicken stands. More than 80,000 people are expected to turn out for the medieval jousting, dog displays, sheep shearing, falconry and reggae, soul and ska bands. July 18-19, 11am-7pm, free.

Your favourite British walks

14 great walks in Britain as suggested by our readers. Got a good ramble you want to share? Let us know

• Times Walks: which is the best-read ramble?

BACKGROUND

• The 20 best family days out

• 20 top British summer holidays

• 20 secret beaches in the British Isles

• Britain's 15 best secret coves and beaches

• Top 20 British festivals for 2009

Related Links

• Times Walks: the 100 best walks in the UK

Tombola with a designer twist
V&A Village Fete Jubilee, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The V&A hosts its fête in the John Madejski garden, an Italianate courtyard in the heart of the museum. Now in its tenth year, the museum’s contemporary take on the traditional summer fête provides a chance to win designer products in the tombola. Last year the star prize was a Ron Arad chair. You can also fish for jewellery with cult designers Tatty Divine. July 24-25.

Pillow fight jousting
The Old Rectory Garden, Overton, Hampshire
This idyllic event is set in one of the prettiest parts of the country, the Hampshire Downs, where the River Test runs through the fête garden. It promises traditional bric-à-brac stalls, raffle and tombola as well as a teddy bear hunt (last year the teddies were parachuted in from a cherrypicker). All that and pole jousting too. July 11. From 1-4pm, 50p entry.

SOUTH WEST

Take part in a costume drama
Milton Abbas Street Fayre, Dorset
Every other year, the main street of Milton Abbas is closed, home-made bunting is hung up and the town engages in 18th-century revelry that includes all the villagers wearing period costumes. There is not a car in site and all of the identical front gardens are given over to entertainers, blacksmiths and local craft stalls. “Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall hasn’t been, but we’d love to see him here,” a villager said. Maypole dancing, morris dancers and straw-bale tossing for the big blokes complete the fun. July 25, 11am-5pm, adults £5, children £3

EAST

Pets - and owners - win prizes
Stiffkey village playing field, Norfolk
All the traditional elements are at Stiffkey but the big draw is a series of afternoon dog races. Open to mutts and pedigrees. Prizes are given for dog and owner lookalikes and the prettiest bitch. August 30, free

MIDLANDS

Save our local
Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice, Selly Park Recreation Ground
This year there’s canine action with a dog show on top of the usual bouncy castle, tombola and cake stalls. Money raised goes straight to the hospice, allowing it to provide free services fo patients and charities. July 18, 11am-2.30pm, free entry.

Saying it with flowers
Sherbourne Flower Festival, Sherbourne, Warwickshire
This year the village is hosting a flower festival in its spectacular church (designed by the Victorian architect Sir George Gilbert Scott). Flower arrangements will depict scenes from British history. September 19-20.

WALES

Climbing the non-greasy pole
Gwyl Y Felinheli, Y Felinheli, Gwynedd, North Wales
Welsh villages hold festivals — or gwyl — with traditional sports. This one involves a lumberjack show on the village green in which a pole is rammed into the ground and locals compete to climb it. Another challenge involves making a chair out of a log as quickly as possible. Festivities, including a 10km fun run and congregational singing on the beach, take place for a week in the run-up to the festival parade on July 5. Free.