A Devon village fete is one of the great unsung pleasures of the English summer. It is not a polished visitor attraction, and that is precisely the point. What you get is a field, a marquee, bunting strung between poles, a brass band doing its best with the theme from a film nobody can quite place, and an entire village turning out to make it work. Time it right and it is one of the warmest afternoons you will spend anywhere in the county.

Arriving at the right time

Most fetes open around midday or 1pm and run until four or five in the afternoon. Turn up in the first half hour and you will get a parking space in the field rather than a hedge-lined lane, and you will see the stalls fully stocked. The cake tent never recovers from a busy first hour.

Come too late and you will miss the judging of the produce and the dog show, which is usually where the real drama lies. Come right at the end, though, and you will find the best bargains on the tombola and the book stall, when organisers would rather sell than pack up.

• Check the parish noticeboard, village shop or local Facebook group a week ahead — times shift, and some fetes are biennial.
• Arrive for opening if you have young children, or just before the raffle draw if you are there for the atmosphere.
• Allow three hours. Fetes expand to fill the time available, and the queue for cream teas is never short.

Cash, change and the small print

Bring cash. Lots of it, in small notes and coins. Many stalls still run on honesty boxes and ice cream tubs of loose change, and card readers are unreliable in a field with one bar of signal. A fiver in 50p pieces will carry you through the coconut shy, the skittles, the bran tub and a slice of cake.

Dogs are usually welcome but on leads, and not in the food tent. Wellies or sturdy shoes are wise even in a dry spell, because a Devon field holds moisture for days. Pop a foldable chair and a blanket in the boot — you will want them by mid-afternoon.

What to do with the family

The traditional games are the draw, and they have barely changed in a century. Welly wanging is a Devon speciality, and the technique is a low, fast throw rather than an elegant lob. Skittles, splat the rat, hook-a-duck and the coconut shy all cost pennies and produce disproportionate excitement.

Look out for these, which most villages put on somewhere on the field:

• Dog show — usually with classes for best puppy, waggiest tail and the wonderfully vague "best in show, judged by a man who knows nothing about dogs".
• Tug of war — village versus village, or the pub versus the church. Take it seriously if invited, and mind your grip on wet grass.
• Ferret racing or sheepdog demonstrations — a genuine local tradition in rural parts, and better than anything on television.
• Children's races and a fancy dress parade — normally mid-afternoon, with rosettes for everyone who turns up.

Face painting, a bouncy castle and a lucky dip are near-universal. Bring a spare set of clothes for anyone under six, because the bouncy castle plus a wet field equals mud.

The produce tent and local stalls

This is where a Devon fete beats a fairground. The produce tent is a proper competition: marrows, runner beans, Victoria sponges, chutneys, jam in jars with hand-written labels, and a category for "arrangement of wild flowers" that inspires fierce loyalty. The standard is high and the judging is taken personally.

Alongside the competition, stalls sell what the county does best. Expect:

• Home-made cakes and preserves — buy early, especially the lemon drizzle.
• Local honey, chutney, cider and apple juice — often from an orchard a mile away.
• Plants and cuttings — the best-value stall on the field, and a good source of hardy perennials that suit local soil.
• Craft and white elephant stalls — bric-a-brac with the occasional genuine find.
• A barbecue or pasty stand — proper Devon pasties, crimped along the side, and hot dogs for the children.

Cream teas and getting it right

The cream tea is the centrepiece, and in Devon the order is non-negotiable: split the scone, then jam, then a generous spoon of clotted cream on top. Do it the other way round and you will be corrected, kindly but firmly, by whoever is pouring the tea.

Tea is served from an urn, in proper cups, generally with a slice of cake for a pound or two. Sit down, share a table with strangers and you will pick up the gossip that tells you more about village life than any guidebook. This is also the moment to buy raffle tickets — the prizes are often a hamper, a meal at the pub and a bottle of something local.

Traditions and rural etiquette

Fetes almost always support the church, the village hall, the playgroup or the cricket club, and are run entirely by volunteers. Be patient in queues, put your rubbish in the bin, and don't haggle — prices are already charitable. If a morris side appears, watch politely; if the band plays the national anthem, stand up.

Say yes to being drawn into the tug of war, the welly wanging or a slice of cake you did not need. Then, as the stalls come down and the light softens over the hedgerows, head to the pub or back to the car with muddy boots and a carrier bag of plants. That is a Devon summer afternoon done properly.