We had a little (!) rain this morning but it’s stopped now and the sun’s out. Everyone is setting up ready to greet you – and the parade is laid at ready to go as well. We can’t wait to see you for our first carnival in six years!
For the 2024 Carnival we’re once again running a dog show, in conjunction with A1 Family Dog Training and Sevenoaks Animal Feeds. Starting at 3:45 in the Arena, make sure you register in advance at the committee tent to reserve your spot!
There will be five categories:
As well as these, there will be fun obstacle course for any dog who wishes to enter!
For the fist time in six years we’re going to have a parade through the village before we finish on the Carnival Field. In the past we’ve had some amazing entries to the parade, from Thunderbird 2 to the Seven Dwarves; from the Red Barrows to the Dancing Pantomime Dames. What are you going to do this year?
Contact floats@knockholtcarnival.org.uk for a booking form and start planning!
After the last few years, we really appreciate the world in which we live all the more. During lockdowns and travel restrictions we were blessed to be located in such an amazing countryside and surrounded by wildlife. Because of this, our next Carnival will be celebrating Our Beautiful World!
Carnival 2024 will be held on 6 July 2024 – make sure you’ve marked your diaries!
It has been a difficult couple of years for everyone – especially for the hospitality industries, who have either been banned from opening or have had to work around many new restrictions. Large events have been badly affected!
We had originally planned a Carnival in summer 2020, and our stall holders and float builders and programme sponsors and volunteers and marshalls were all ready to welcome thousands to our village. Then in March, Covid struck, and by April it was clear that a huge event – even outdoors – was not going to be possible. We postponed until summer 2021, and without the income from Carnival to act as insurance we also had to cancel our fireworks night. Other events – our Bake Off, the beer festival, and quiz nights were also impossible.
As 2021 rolled around, and Covid hadn’t disappeared, we had to make the difficult decision to postpone the Carnival again. 2021 saw a smaller Knockstock and Bake Off, complying with restrictions that were in place at the time, and we helped other groups to organise events throughout a Celebration of Summer. Entering 2022, even though government restrictions are lifting, there is not enough time to organise our full carnival – float builders won’t have the time to construct the amazing vehicle’s our crowds have come to expect, and our committee is smaller than we’d like. But …
We’re not going to sit and do nothing! This summer there will be events aplenty in Knockholt:
Added to these, we will be running a Summer Fayre, a classic village fete on the Recreation Ground, with stalls and entertainments, music and fun. Have a look at our Fayre page for more details – and get in contact if you want to be involved!
We are hoping to run our full Carnival next year in 2023 – parade and all – but it’s been far too long already, so we can’t wait to see you in July!
We can’t tell you what they are otherwise they wouldn’t be surprises!
Only two people on the committee know the details of all the floats, making sure that there’s intense rivalry between groups to produce the most innovative and spectacular displays. The parade organisers collected the themes a year ago to ensure that there was no overlap, and now it’s only a day until you can see what everyone’s come up with!
We can tell you there’ll be music, there’ll be dancing, there’ll be walkers and drivers … but beyond that, you’ll have to come and see for yourself. Work out where you’re going to stand on the parade route now!
We’re currently sifting through the parade entry forms, working out the order, making sure that children aren’t walking behind horses, music isn’t too loud in neighbouring floats, the parade will carry on moving at a good pace. There are a good variety of themes! We can’t wait to see you all on the route on the fourteenth!
Our raffle, drawn on Carnival Day, was a big success, and we are pleased to announce our winners. All prizes have been distributed.
£100: ticket 01817
£50: ticket 00631
£25: ticket 00687
If you didn’t win, better luck next time!
We had a few items of lost property handed in during our Carnival, and while we managed to reunite some things there are some outstanding:
If these are yours please get in contact with Carole at chair@knockholtcarnival.org.uk and she will try to reunite you!
Make sure you listen in to Channel Radio this morning to hear out publicity officer, Justine, talking to The Community Show about our fantastic Carnival, parade, and the charities we are doing it all in aid of. Laura and Russell, the presenters, have given us incredible support in the past, and we’re looking forward to seeing them at the Carnival!
See http://www.channelradio.co.uk/shows-community-show/ for a link to listen online.