At the tail-end of a stifling hot week in July, Fairfax & Favor pitched up at Ragley Hall ready to get stuck into a full-blown, magical weekend of boots, shoes, sunshine & showers. We welcomed our customers with open arms, in a bid to entice with a combination of exclusive product launches, a sprinkling of wizardry and the temptation of a refreshingly light gin-based cocktail… don’t mind if I do.

It was all hands-on deck for set up, 15 sets of hands to be precise; this year we needed all the help we could get to set up our whopping 15m stand. And so, with two whole days of tireless grafting, plus a rather unsanitary combination of blood sweat & tears (mainly sweat, lots and lots of sweat) the stand was up and running and ready to rock.

There is only one solution when it comes to accommodating 15 members of show team. Fire up the BBQ, we’re going camping!

Every year, head honchos Marcus, Felix and Show Manager Ben (known as Stag to most) along with the entire show team, take the plunge and channel their inner Bear Grylls, fully embracing 5 whole days of pop-up tent life.

To sum it up, think less ‘glamping’… more 6am slippery flip-flop flees to the showers and an extraordinarily healthy diet of barbequed bacon and sausages dished out on soggy paper plates. Sounds glamorous, doesn’t it?

In previous years, we’ve had a crack at running our own bar on the stand. And yes, in many ways, this was a big success! However, towards the end of a hectic weekend when we all became a little jaded, our ice supplies would dwindle, and our mixers would be in desperate need of replenishment. As a result of this, we often found our delicious and generous offerings were not so refreshing… instead, most unpalatable. Not quite what we had in mind!

This year, we couldn’t wait to throw some professionals into the mix and were overjoyed to welcome TWELVE KEYS GIN to the team; these guys were our absolute saviours, not all super heroes wear capes… some wear aprons!

Along with a superb swanky new bar, Matt and his gang came equipped with bottles upon bottles of the most delicious Gin. Who would ever have guessed that the humble coffee bean, when partnered up with a slither of fig could completely transform a G&T?! If you fancy yourself as a cocktail connoisseur, grab a shaker, have a look at the recipe cards below, and see what you can mix up…

Once again, for the third year on the trot, we welcomed our in-house Wizard, (and that is no exaggeration-this man is truly magical, just lacks the pointy hat and wand) Daniel Rosendfelt. Danny specialises in some of the world’s finest ‘sleight of hand’, or as we like to think of it, pure sorcery.

Wizard aside… unbeknown to many, we too had a few tricks up our own sleeve to surprise our customers. Behold, the launch of the LIMITED-EDITION WINDSOR in Tan suede & Navy leather. These exclusive product launches have become somewhat of a Game Fair tradition, a tradition that we intend to continue for Game Fairs to come; keep your eyes peeled and make sure you grab them whilst you can, because once they’re gone, they’re gone!

And so, with the final Imperial Explorer boot successfully zipped onto another happy customer, we bid farewell to the Game Fair. Of course, a huge thank you to our super hardworking team, who- as you can imagine, by the end of a hectic week, were overjoyed to be shimmying awkwardly out of their tents for the last time- well, for another year at least.

Spectacular videography by Mikey ‘Spielberg’ Rosendfelt

Nifty camera work by Chris Rosendfelt

Wondrous wizardry by Danny Rosendfelt

Revitalised by Twelve Keys Gin: @Twelvekeysgin

#twelvekeysgin