Carnival time

What a glorious day for a Carnival!  This is when you really appreciate living in a village; the planning and excitement has been building for weeks and the day has finally dawned.

After a week or so of baking sunshine, the weather was just perfect – warm but not too hot with a slight breeze.  I love to look around places like this when they’re just setting up, I love the expectation mixed with uncertainty over whether it’s going to be a success or not.  My husband went to help set up the marquees in the morning so small daughter and I walked up to meet him with the dog before it got too hot.

As you can imagine, the beautiful weather brought the visitors, which is always good news for the Carnival.  We had live bands, a funfair, stalls galore, sheep dog displays and Morris Dancers, synonymus with English country fairs.

When I was small and we travelled on holiday by car, I remember passing coaches full of girls who were part of Morris Dancer and majorette troupes and thinking their pompons and tassels looked very glamorous.  Sometimes we would see them at service stations and they always looked like they were having great fun – although now I’m old enough to know that many of those girls would probably have wished to be me going on holiday with my family instead!

The Carnival was, of course, a success.  No one should have worried.  The weather brought people in their hundreds and it was lovely to see so many people from the village in one place, as well as friends and visitors from elsewhere.  It’s at times like these that you realise how strong the sense of community is; going to the village Carnival is part of what you do when you live in a village.

Whether browsing the stalls, watching the displays or listening to the bands with a beer in hand, there was something for everyone and I was very proud to be a part of it.