The Soho Village Fête: waiters' race, stalls and history

Once a year, on a Sunday in high summer, Soho behaves like a village. The Soho Society's fête fills St Anne's Gardens on Wardour Street from noon to six, entry is free, and the afternoon builds to a race in which professional waiters run the streets carrying a tray and a bottle of fizz. Go early, go hungry, and keep your eyes on Dean Street at around three.

What to expect in the gardens

The Society bills six hours of live entertainment, stalls, snail racing, the Human Fruit Machine, a spaghetti-eating competition, a dog show, a raffle and a tug of war between Soho Police and Soho Fire Service. There is a bar run by The French House, and the Society keeps the day free by selling alcohol there, which is why you cannot bring your own. Expect security checks on the way in.

Stalls have traditionally come from Soho businesses and community groups, Soho Parish School among them, and past editions have been packed with handmade crafts and homemade food. Londonist's coverage of past fêtes mentions tea and cake, morris dancing and splat the rat. The programme can shift from year to year, so treat times as provisional until the Society confirms them.

• Capacity: 500 people in the gardens at any one time, and the Society holds to that however many turn up. People drift in and out through the afternoon, so a queue usually moves.
• Members: Soho Society members get priority entry.
• Access: there are steps up from Wardour Street, so step-free access is difficult.
• Raffle: tickets are sold online and at the fête. Prizes in past years have included theatre tickets, afternoon tea and restaurant vouchers.

Order the snail racing for the first hour, the raffle for the middle of the afternoon, and save your best spot for the race.

The waiters' race

The race starts and finishes outside The French House, 49 Dean Street. Runners go up Dean Street, round Soho Square, back down towards Romilly Street and home to the pub door. Accounts differ on whether the return leg uses Greek Street or Frith Street, so choose a spot near the finish and you will not miss the result.

Each competitor carries a tray with a bottle of fizz and a glass, plus an ashtray for ballast. They must not steady the contents with a hand and must not drop the tray. Runners are waiters, hospitality and bar staff put forward by local bars and restaurants, with separate women's and men's races. Volunteer marshals line the route. Start time is usually given as around three, though some listings say quarter past, so arrive with time to spare.

Recent results show how local the contest is. In the 50th fête in 2025, Stara of Mr Fogg's Pawnbrokers won the women's race and Stefan of Ham Yard Hotel the men's, as reported by Westminster Extra. Dean Street Townhouse has been a repeat contender.

Where to stand: by the French House, where Londonist notes the pub sells Cidre Breton for spectators. Order that, and claim a bit of kerb.

A short history

The Soho Society was founded in 1972 to protect the neighbourhood's character, and it organised the first modern Village Fête in 1975, according to Broadwick Soho. The Nudge describes it as born of a bid to save an area at risk of being bulldozed in the 1970s, and proceeds still go to local businesses, schools and residents.

The race itself is older than the modern fête. Time Out dates it to 1955 in Soho, and Londonist traces the idea to a 1949 waiters' race around an athletics track in Chiswick, itself inspired by a Parisian café waiters' race dating from 1914. About 70 waiters ran in 1955, and Londonist names S. Crisevolo of The Ivy as winner. A BFI set of colour photographs from 1956 even includes a caption about taking bets on the annual race.

The French House has its own legend. Airmail calls it Soho's most infamous pub, with tales of de Gaulle writing his call to arms there in exile and Dylan Thomas leaving the manuscript of Under Milk Wood behind.

St Anne's Gardens

The setting adds to the day. The gardens on Wardour Street are the old churchyard of St Anne's, closed to burials in 1853. Up to 60,000 bodies are believed to remain, which is why the ground sits well above the street. Fanny Wilkinson laid it out as a garden for the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association in 1891 and it opened in 1892. Westminster City Council now manages it and it holds a Green Flag Award.

Look for the memorial to the victims of the 1999 Admiral Duncan bombing, the war memorials on the church tower walls, William Hazlitt's restored gravestone and the illuminated fence known as the Wall of Light. Visit one on a quiet weekday and the fête will feel even more of a spectacle.

The Society also looks for volunteers, entertainers and sponsors, and details are on its fête page. For the race's background, see Londonist, and for the fête's roots, Broadwick Soho. The gardens' story is on Wikipedia.