Discover Hertford Online Forum

Last Sunday, 24th June, was Hertford Carnival and Fun Day in the Castle Grounds. It was also England vs Panama in Russia. We had booked the day long before the World Cup fixtures were set but were unsuccessful in getting them to change their date or the time. We believe that there was an effect in attendance but not as much as could have been expected. We would now like any comments in relation to the day. Did you attend? What did you think of the event? Did you deliberately not attend and if so why.

We are afraid that it not possible to return to the old fashioned Carnival Parade. The lay out of Hertford does not lend itself to that and Health and Safety and Insurance costs have made it almost impossible to organise!

So if you have a view (constructive please!) then let us know and we will see how we can improve for future years!

The Rotary Club of Hertford

we did not attend, but not because of the world cup - 2 reasons - other activities going on, and a possible over saturation of events at the castle there's only so many you can (or want!) go to!

Nevertheless we did enjoy the game

did n't go, watched football; would have taken kids otherwise, but they did n't realise, and I'm inherently selfish

It can be a bit samey and parochial.

Most of the stalls were the same as last year, as were the performers on stage.

It's become formulaic and lacking in imagination.

codek2 wrote: ↑

Tue 26 Jun, 2018 2:50 pm

... and a possible over saturation of events at the castle there's only so many you can (or want!) go to!

^ And this ^

We did go - not a big fan of football. We enjoyed it but have to agree with Steve and Codek2 that there was nothing new to the event and that the "fair" events at the Castle Grounds in recent years have been all the same which is why there could appear to be a saturation of them. The fair event we enjoyed the most in the Castle grounds was a Medieval fair, with demonstrations of medieval crafts, falconry and re-enactors playfully bashing each other with axes Maybe though that provides its own H&S problems. So in my view a bit more imagination put into the central fair attractions would make a difference here.
It was difficult to see any acts on the stage due to shadow and I can't help thinking that a central arena would be more engaging though I appreciate this has its own difficulties.
Also we visited mid-afternoon: we were expecting there to be people on the entrances at least collecting for charity but there was no one.

Didn't go as I had other commitments, and this might be something that already happens, but: Have a display area on the island and offer voluntary and local groups (scouts, cubs, dance, fitness, first aid, etc) 10 min slots to show what they offer to their members.