Nuneaton Light Switch on

Nuneaton Carnival joined in with other local charities and not-for-profit organisations in having a stall for the Victorian night, Nuneaton Christmas light switch on.

Several committee members manned the stall selling mince pies and mulled wine at great value. Only £1 for both. This gave the people of Nuneaton a chance to have a quick chat and enjoy a warming sensation. Two boards photo boards were presented allowing people to see the queen and maids from the last 19 years. The current court are the last to be named maids, as they gratefully take on the new title of princesses. The decision to change the maids' title was made to fall in line with other carnival courts. Another photo board showed the committee members and available positions on the committee.

The afternoon event was a success bringing the carnival into the minds of Nuneaton residents, we attracted people to talk about the carnival, spotting previous winners from the photos on the board, talking how they might be able to get involved and promoting the carnival in general. We have taken details for the potential 2014/15 carnival queen, people interested in designing and making carnival floats as well as additional committee members. We are always looking to expand the committee and if you feel you can help in ANY way then please get in touch.

The lights in Nuneaton where more impressive than I remember and the fireworks made the night. They went shooting off the Abbygate roof, with bight colours filling the sky. Soon followed by streets filling with a mist as the remnants of the smoke made from the impressive fireworks.

Funding for you, Nuneaton

So the deadline for submitting a request for funding from Nuneaton Carnival is coming close.

If you wish to be considered to have up to £500 donated to your group, charity or project why not drop Nuneaton Carnival a quick e-mail. You can even use the form on the right --->>>

All you need to do is outline what you would like and the expected cost, why you would like it and what affect it would have.

You will need to get this in by Sunday 13th October 2013, not very long. So why just put a request in and then sort out the finer details later.

Update: 14/10/2013
So the requests have been looked over and we have the grand total of £2,200 to be handed to local charities and organisations. Along with donations for the marching bands and winners for the entrants to Nuneaton Carnival the total donations total over £3700. Remember you are able to apply for donations/funding in 2014.

"Pack up your troubles ... and smile" Theme for 2014

Sunday 8th June 2014

This is the day of Nuneaton Carnival celebrating 84 years since the first carnival. Theme is

"Pack up your troubles ... and smile"

so here is a quick list of ideas for you to think about.

Army
Tanks
Planes
Boats
Dads Army
Rations
Smiles - Something that makes you smile
Holiday
Suitcases/bags


Why this theme?
The link to the theme is because of 100 years ago that the first world war began.
70 years after the D-Day landings on 6th June 1944

2013 Count and Councillor Challenge results

Nuneaton Carnival 2013 managed to collect a total of £4241.52, thank you to all involved!
Now only a wait of 360 days until next year.

The total collection consisted of 210517 coins in total, with 194582 of them copper.

Laid end to end would be 4655m long and in total they weighed 9.3kg over 1 tonne.

This includes the councillors challenge:Chris Watkins of Kingswood.

Chris Watkins - £111.02
David Carr - £86.52
Marcus Jones - £67.92
Kristofer Wilson - £55.92
June Tandy - £34.43
Victoria (Vicky) Fowler - £32.58
Neil Phillips - £ 23.77
Bob Copland - £23.60
Dennis Harvey - £20
Corrine Davies - £7.47
Caroline Phillips - £5.37

Chris Watkins of Kingswood managed to collect the most with only £24.50 above the next contender. It was noted he chose to get family involved. As Carnival is all about family we allowed this to go ahead.

On the day our own King of Mirth managed to raise £241.08, doubling what the councillors managed to collect, not including the pub visits the week before collecting over £121 with help from two of the committee members.

Here are several news stories
WHAT A DAY . . . WHAT A PARTY includes a video of the day
Nuneaton Carnival winners
Special thanks to generous public
Carnival hailed a huge success

Thank you to Attleborough Liberal club for providing one counting machine and the people who assisted in counting the change on the night. That includes councillors John Haynes and June Tandy who have helped over the years in this mammoth task.

A key person to the carnival this year has been Laura Rowe, able to organise an amazingly successful Gala field and contributed a lot of time in counting the coins.

Procession photos

Gala Photos

The Big Comfy Bookshop has written a quick review of his day.

If you would like to be involved in Nuneaton Carnival please contact carntreasurer@aol.com we are currently looking for enthusiastic people to assist in what ever way they can.

Nuneaton Carnival Gala field

What else does Nuneaton get from carnival day?
Have a quick look over what we have got in store for you at the Gala field (CV11 4NA)

Remember it is completely free to enter the field and suitable for all the family.

Entertainment:
The hosts for the day will be Anker Radio, who have kindly lent the speaker system so you can hear what is happening on the filed.

Limitless - A new acrobatic display team, with people having trampolining, gymnastics, cheerleading, dancing and sky diving experience.
3Sixty Bicycle Stunt Team - Some amazing talents with showing what can be done on a pedal bike, just watch the video
Nuneaton Dog Club Display Team - The club will go through a few exercises showing that dog training can be fun as well as rewarding.
Gun Run - Air, Army and Sea Cadets in competition to be awarded a trophy from the carnival.

The performances will start at 1.30pm allowing people to see the procession go past avenue road.
The guide for performances is below - subject to change on the day.

1.30pm Limitless
2.10pm 3Sixty
2.45pm Dog demonstration
3.15pm Gun Run
4.15pm 3Sixty
5.00pm Limitless

Stalls and Fairground:
Food is available from the gala field with a dedicated area where you can choose from the wide variety of offerings from Hog roast, Caribbean, Burgers, drinks and ice cream.

For the more adventurous there is Pearson's fair at the end of the field with all the fun games and rides you would expect to see. This will be open from the Friday, so can always go along to that early and take in everything else on Sunday. Inflatable slides,  water/land Zorbing and  bungee trampolines will be on the field on carnival day.

You can find out what happens behind the scenes with community groups from Nuneaton such as wildlife rescue, Warwickshire air ambulance and Scouts.

There will be over 50 stalls to look at so get on down and see for yourself.

The whole field has been organised by Laura Rowe, I'm sure you will agree, it looks set to be pretty impressive - Thank you.

Nuneaton Councillors Challenge

With 9 days until carnival day, we have had a great response for the councillors challenge. Currently 6 will be walking the route and a further 2 helping out on the count.

What it involves
On Sunday 9th June the councillors will pick up an infamous orange bucket, before joining the procession at 1pm. They will have to walk along the 3 mile route through Nuneaton town centre, collecting change from the crowds. The person who collects the most on the day will have their name promoted and have bragging rights over all overs.

The councillors challenge has been happening for many years, giving the community of Nuneaton the chance to see the names and faces behind local elections. It shows how they want to be involved in local activities, actively making a difference.

The 6 confirmed walkers are Bob Copland (The Mayor), Denis Harvey, June Tandy, Christopher Watkins, David Carr and Kristopher Wilson.

The 2 assisting on the count in the evening are Jill Sheppard and John Haynes who is hoping to bring along his wife. If you would like to join in and give a few hours of your time please get in touch.

UPDATE 4th June 2013: Now had confirmation from Victoria Flower, Neil Phillips,Caroline Phillips and Corinne Davies that will be walking the route. This year will certainly be a challenge, please check here a few days after the carnival day to find out the full results.

Now with a total of 10 walking along the route it is showing that the councillors are rallying each other, must be the mention that the sun is set to shine.

Nuneaton Carnival Day 2013

With just under two weeks to go until Nuneaton Carnival 2013, the many months of preparation behind the scenes are coming together. We have many float entrants so set out to be a good show on the day. We will have the currently unnamed lion donated by Crown Skips leading the procession at 1pm, and their skip at the end to collect any change you have left.

Carnival programme
This year we have a carnival programme that is available at several locations around Nuneaton, and will be handed out on the day. This has been created to give the public information on the Carnival and has been a good opportunity for local businesses to show the great support.

Community Community Community - The first year for chairman, Alan Ottey will hopefully see weather like the weekend just gone. As being a carnival follower I know how much the weather depends on the turnout on the day. Alan and the whole committee would like to see everyone from all over Nuneaton making their way to see the procession along the route.

INFORMATION ON GALA FIELD

Please see Councillors Challenge to see which councillors are getting involved.

David Lewis an old King of Mirth, whose rein ended in 1997 along side John Major, gave me a few minutes to have a quick chat about his time in the role. David, now working at the Wilkinson store in Nuneaton Town centre, still has fond memories of Nuneaton Carnival and expressed that the role of King of Mirth was taken with great commitment and honour. As King of Mirth he was representing Nuneaton as well as Nuneaton Carnival as he went around to the many pubs, with a donation bucket, collecting in the region of £2000 each year to support local charities. This was done with great support from his friends and landlords who even called him up if they had not had a recent visit. The current King of Mirth is Ross Kenny so look out for him in local pubs and a street near you!

If you are from a local charity or group or know someone who is, we are always considering donation requests. If you don't ask your won't get.

MS charity gig

2013 Nuneaton Carnival Queen and maids (Emily Read, Charlotte Marston, Emma Daniel and Katherine Thomas) managed to organise a charity gig raising just over £270. They joined in the fun, as you can see in them dancing along to Cotton eyed Joe.

The evening was held at Weddington Social Club who provided the room free of charge, with all the bands, soloists and even comedy act all volunteered their time and equipment. The Lord Nelson donated a meal for two to be one of the prizes given away in the raffle.

Brief list the acts are below:

Follow suit
Loz D'Laytwa Makumbe
Joe Ellis
Charlie Yorath & Jack Myles
Crossroads
Legions End
Lost in sanity - Video
What Happened on Sunday

DanceKraze - Dancers - Video

Nuneaton Carnival Eurovision

The committee from Nuneaton Carnival held a night showing the Eurovision song contest, putting the motto from 2013 into local community - "We are on".

I feel that this brings great relevance to the Nuneaton Carnival, that is all about bringing the community together and making it fun along the way. From the many entrants entering the procession this year, each one has the opportunity to raise money for a local charity of their choice.

The fun, filled evening went with enough food to feed an army, the selection consisted of Swedish Meatballs, French stick and cheeses, Dominos (Italian) pizza, Spanish chorizo and cold meats ,German sausages and several items from English buffets. Much help came from Bows & Butterflies Cake Design

The carnival court turned up with great cheer, as they won the Eurovision Bingo, getting a cuddly giraffe! Much controversy seemed apparent with the voting, as usual. One of the guests still managed to pick first and second in the correct order getting her a Eurovision T-shirt and official CD. A great night had by all with rave reviews.