Pudsey Carnival volunteers are busy once again putting the final touches to the programme of events – and this year is going to be better than ever! writes carnival chairman Simon Seary.
Parade
We are very proud to be one of the last remaining towns to have a parade.
We have been fortunate this year to secure a sponsor for this year’s parade on Saturday, May 20, which means that it is still free to take part. Thanks to PDS Windows, the winner of the Best Float will receive £300. The Best Walking Float will win £200!
The theme this year is ‘heroes and villains’! So there really is no excuse not to be involved and hopefully win some money to boost your group or school funds. Get out your sellotape and paint and get planning!
Unfortunately we have again the extra cost of traffic management to assist with the road closures but we hope that following the success for our crowd-funding attempts last year local people will again support us via our Justgiving page.
Carnival Queen
Our carnival queen this year is Elouise Kite from Pudsey Waterloo School.
Elouise joins a long tradition of Carnival Queens. She will be part of the parade in a vintage vehicle kindly supplied by Leisters Garage. Following the parade she will be crowned in the area and the event will be declared officially open!
Stage
Farmac Building Supplies have very kindly agreed to sponsor the stage and arena this year and we are looking for local groups to take part. So far Crawshaw Academy have agreed to provide us with some musical entertainment along with the Medusa Dance Company and Gymmagic.
Pets Corner
Following the success of the dog show last year, we have decided to expand their arena and K9hikes will be running their ever-popular dog show with a number of pet-related stalls around them.
So if you have a cute rescue or smallest superstar, biggest beauty to name but a few, then we will see you there!
Events
We have a number of amazing stalls booked again this year and we’re sure that there will be something for everyone!
Pudsey Legal have secured an amazing if not strange toy – a giant operation game, so you can test your steady hands removing the funny bone on Queens Park.
The British Heart Foundation will be returning with their popular “crockery smash” stall, which is an ideal stress reliever – what’s not to like about throwing coconuts at crockery!?
If you are feeling a little more daring, we have a rodeo, which is sponsored by the Fleece Pub at Fartown. I am sure that our volunteers will go easy on you!
As usual we will have Diddy Dennis, a small fire engine for the smaller children to ride on, we have donkey rides and punch and Judy for when they need some quieter time.
For the older kids we have the very popular laser tag – running around in the dark, chasing and trying to tag your friends? What’s not to love? We have many more events booking daily and I will update you more nearer the time.
Bus tour
If you always wanted to know the secret location of the Pudsey ‘treacle mines’, the true story of the grey lady at Fulneck or the truth about THAT tram accident then our new Pudsey History Tour is for you.
We have an amazing tour guide – Damon Sugden – who has been scouring the Pudsey Civic Society records for all the interesting facts in and around Pudsey.
We also will be using the Carnival Queen’s vintage bus so that you can take the tour in style. We are hoping this will be a popular event and so you will need to book to secure your seat – further details will be available on our website.
Watch for the carnival leaflet dropping through your door in May with further details.
Fundraising
Pudsey Carnival has a long tradition of raising funds for local groups.
The carnival is run solely by volunteers and every penny raised by this event goes back into Pudsey.
Last year, encouraged by the British Heart Foundation, we took a different path and instead of giving to a local charity we used the funds to purchase two defibrillators.
With the support of local businesses these have been installed locally.
Following a number of local success stories with similar equipment, we have again this year decided to use the funds raised to buy more defibrillators. Your support literally could save lives!
I look forward to seeing you there!