Mayor leads parade of floats at Wallingford Carnival (From The Oxford Times)

Mayor leads parade of floats at Wallingford Carnival

11:26am Monday 22nd June 2009 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

BAGPIPERS and a chainsaw sculptor were part of a colourful carnival which helped make Wallingford’s 49th annual shindig another success.

A fashion-themed parade was led by mayor Dee Cripps, chauffeur driven in a 1957 Ford Fairline 500, closely followed by carnival princess, nine-year-old Hollie Smith, in a pony and trap.

The carnival, which is annually organised by a team of volunteers, will this year donate all proceeds to Wallingford Hockey Club, one of the procession organisers. Pupils from St John’s School clinched first prize in the float competition, with their own 80-pupil interpretation of fashion through the ages, including hand-made paper Spitfires.

Ms Cripps, who helped judge the float competition, said: “The children looked fantastic. It’s the 49th year this year, so it was a big one.

“It has been a wonderful day,” she said. “Each festival takes about a year’s worth of planning so it takes a huge amount of effort from the team of volunteers.”

Enjoying the carnival was Nicky Fisher, of Dorchester, with daughters Matilda, ten, and Annie, seven.

She said: “I was born in Wallingford and I have been coming here ever since I was a child. I love it and the children really enjoy watching it too. It’s nice to see they didn’t have a great load of lorries in the procession this year, it looks so much better when people are walking.“ At Kinecroft, festival goers enjoyed mountain bike and motorcycle displays, a marching band, the Goring Growlers dog display and the chainsaw sculptor got to show off his skills.

In Market Place, music was provided by the Wallingford School Fun Band, Queen Street Jazz and Response Collective, and the Thames Valley Drama School entertained revellers with a sneak preview of their upcoming shows.

Then, to close the fun-filled day, Wallingford School’s very own rock band The Stags, the Cadillacs and Slade tribute band, Slyde, performed the closing songs in Kinecroft in the evening.

Rose Sutton, chairman of the organising committee, said: “It was an absolutely fabulous day and an amazing turnout.

“People were dancing in the streets and all sorts.

“We were so lucky with the weather too, as it was just a few spots of rain and it didn’t seem to put people off at all. Now it’s straight back into it to organise next year’s festival.”