Carnival Cancelled

Your thoughts on what's to see and do
MrsG
Posts:17
Joined:Wed 18 Dec, 2013 4:58 pm
Re: Carnival Cancelled

Post by MrsG » Sat 07 Jun, 2014 3:59 pm

Some groups had entered as my son and daughter were due to be on two different floats. They are disappointed its not going ahead now. We haven't heard anything since the cancellation notice from their groups so not sure what is going on. Not sure how many in total had entered though.

woodbury
Posts:6
Joined:Tue 24 Jun, 2014 9:25 am

Re: Carnival Cancelled

Post by woodbury » Sat 05 Jul, 2014 12:48 pm

It is good to see a lot of comments saying that last year's carnival was such a success. There was a lot of effort went into it and it is good to know that it was appreciated. A similar amount of work went into this year's event, perhaps even more, but we were not able to persuade enough people to take part in the parade. When the decision was taken to cancel the parade there would have been a maximum of seven groups taking part. That is clearly not enough for a meaningful parade! We apologise to all those who did put thought and effort into organising a group entry, especially MrsG's family, but feel that the decision was the right one.

Why didn't we get entries? We believe that there are many reasons, the main one being the cost of arranging a lorry as the basis of a float. Although the organisers had insurance to cover the whole event individual floats would also need their own vehicle insurance for participation and we are told the cost is prohibitive. There was certainly no issue regarding policing and the world cup. As a safety aspect there is some concern about isolating Folly Island during the parade but, as last year showed, police were happy to take part and become involved in what was a significant community event. As for the theme, it was felt important to set a theme which gave as much latitude to entrants as possible. With so many different nursery rhymes it should be possible come up with a related aspect without excessive trouble or expense. The committee could also oversee it to make sure that there were not too many humpty dumptys etc. The last thing we would want would be an outbreak of egg related disorder as rival humptys fight for supremacy.

As far as PR goes we could have done better but after taking the decision to cancel the parade we were not sure what we would be left with. Stallholders and entertainers had to be contacted to see if they were willing to take part in the new event. Liaison had to take place with Hertford Town Council to ensure that the event was viable. We could not provide further information because we had no information. As soon as things were settled we had the website updated. In addition we distributed 4,000 leaflets around the town on the two weekends before carnival. The Mercury also ran a spread advertising the new event. It is regretful that, despite these efforts, some people were still unaware that it was to go ahead.

The event that did take place was well supported showing we had reached a significant number in the community and feedback is that it was a very enjoyable day. The music was varied and excellent and the entertainers are to be thanked and congratulated. We cannot take the credit for the weather but it must be said that it helped tremendously.

So what for next year? It is here that we turn to the people of Hertford and the surrounding area. What would you like to see? (within reason!). We would welcome any comments that you may have regarding the event to hertfordcarnival2014@gmail.com" target="_blank" target="_blank . We would especially like to hear from individuals or groups who would be willing to become involved in organising the carnival as part of a committee.

David Pearce
Rotary Club of Hertford

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