In its 47th year, the carnival parade was the largest parade for 40 years with 22 groups participating. Ten large floats made the carnival procession an impressive sight. Captain Jack Sparrow led the parade followed by Milnrow Brass Band and the carnival queens. There were princesses and pirates, fairy tale characters, under the sea themes, gnomes, Jesus Christ Superstar themes, steel bands, street dancers, Morris dancers, footballers, drama groups and all kinds of fancy dress.
At Milnrow Memorial Park a new larger fun fair was in the park with a full range of rides catering for all ages from toddlers to adults. The rides included waltzers, ghost train, teacups, toddler train, trampolines, huge inflatables, hook a duck and a firm favourite of the day: the superb flying chairs ride. Children and adults alike enjoyed paintball, which is a new addition to the event. It went down so well it is already booked for next year!
The entertainment was top notch this year, thanks to Vibe Youth Music of Rochdale for providing the professional sound system, highly acclaimed group The Scattering and the hugely entertaining group Sunday@One was enjoyed by all. Milnrow Brass Band played at the park and the Az Kabile Tribal Belly Dancers did two fantastic displays.
At the park there was a wide variety of stalls including toy stalls, book stalls, face painting, hair accessories, handbag stalls and crazy golf. The committee was delighted to support the launch two new local businesses at the event - Mrs Barbers Bakery who offers a selection of delicious unique cakes and biscuits and Busy Beans coffee, a 5 star rated mobile specialty coffee and tea business, perfect for any event.
In addition, Kidz Club Milnrow were on hand with craft stalls for the children to participate in along with nail painting and sand art.
A prize give away took place in the afternoon, with meal vouchers for The Cedar Tree and The Italian Job, numerous bottles of wine kindly donated by PTG Holroyd, Tesco and the Co-operative Food Milnrow, children's toys, cakes from Mrs Barbers Bakery, hot a stones therapy session at Abbey Rose Holistic Therapies, glasses case and voucher from Yates and Suddell Opticians, a gift voucher for Do Dig Doggy, bags of cookies from Subway and a £50 on the spot cash prize.
The committee would like to thank all who took part in the parade. We are always amazed by the effort put in to the costumes and float decoration and we are immensely grateful for their participation. In independent panel judged the parade entrants and the winners were:
Best Children's Float: St Thomas C of E Primary School
Best Adult Float: The Fancy Dress Shop
Best Walking Display: Milnrow Pre-School
Best Children's Fancy Dress: Newhey Community Primary School
Best Adult Fancy Dress: Captain Jack Sparrow
Spirit of the Carnival: Loud Studios
The committee would like to thank EMR Recycling for their support. Also a huge thank you to Graham Poole Transport, Minky and Holroyds for providing vehicles and drivers for the event. Thanks are offered to the Waggon Garage, All about Flowers, House of Flowers, The Beauty Spot and PW Greenhalgh for their contribution to the carnival queens float. We would like to thank Milnrow Bowling Club for re arranging their fixture list, Kenny Smith for his invaluable assistance at the park and Balfour Beatty for revising their road work schedule to allow for the parade to pass easily and for large vehicles to gain access to the park.
Finally, the committee would like to extend its gratitude to all who watched the parade and attended the family fun day. The date for next year's carnival is Saturday 11th June and we always aim for bigger and better each year. If any groups or companies would be interested in sponsoring the event, please call the Carnival Secretary on 07786 850266 or email milnrowcarnival@yahoo.com for further details.
