Alan Betts said they wouldn’t know the final figure until the post mortem, but estimated 5000 to 6000 people turned out to see the 60 stalls on display.

“It’s unbelievable, we didn’t expect this,” he said.

“This use to be the old pumpkin festival, but that died in 2011. So we thought we’d do it again with a new name, start small and build it up again. But we’ve been thrown straight in the deep end.”

The money raised from the gold-coin entry fee will go towards revamping the village’s old amphitheatre.

“We plan to use it for movie nights, bands – things to bring the town together,” Mr Betts said.