accy carnival
 

did any one besides me and pam go into accy today for the carnival,it was a waste of a Saturday, not a lot of floats, no guides no scouts and the two biggest employers ossy mills and express gifts did not have a float,it was a load of c--p, the worst that i have seen,:confused:

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i went and yes Tosh, it was utter crap, never seen a carnival as crap in my life

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used to be great if i remember right it used to through broadway

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Watched it going past the house and was very disappointed in the turn out. Was a great parade once of a day more people need to get involved.

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As somebody who participated in the Carnival today I to was dissapointed at the lack of floats I guess there no more than 12 and yet I guess 20 years ago it would take a good 45 minutes for the parade to pass

I agree that the lack of youth organisations in the event is also worrying although the army cadets were present and the Sea Cadets had a very good float. Te crowds watching the event also seemed smaller than in previous years. In past years we would have floats from Sunday Schools, Schools, local companies etc perhaps times have moved on and we have seen the demise of such groups however it also struck me that the event is hardly a multicultural event and perhaps our friends from ethnic minorities should also play a more active role to reflect the nature of our community

One thought I had before today was the lack of publicity in the "local Press" if we can still call the Accy Observer a local paper. In past years the carnival would have been a 4 page centre spread showing the timetale for the day, the route and details of the organisations taking part, this week very few column inches to the event

Despite the lack of floats it was clear that alot of work had gone into those floats that had entered and the organisations who did take part should be congratulated and thanked for their efforts. As should also the work done by the Lions in organising such an event.

On a more practical note how do we ge more participants next time?

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more proactive marketing is the only way. The whole town needs to participate in a 'bring the pride back to Accrington' type campaign and the Carnival is/should be the biggest example of this. It would be fair to say that the recession will have some bearing on the limited amount of floats but a dozen? thats crap.

Good call on the multi-cultural bit though.

And yes, the Observer should be petitioned to do something bigger and better. Perhaps a list of participants would encourage businesses to get behind the idea (free advertising)?

Who won the best and worst float?

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pressurize the council, we did notice the lack of the mayor and councilors in the parade, and i agree it dose need more publicity in the local press.

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The lack of council participation was pointed out to me as the parade was going past. Certain councillors were off in the opposite direction doing their shopping :mad:

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The mayor was in the parade:)

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The event is organised by the Rotary club, not the Council. I'm sure the next comments will be 'but the Council should be supporting or running the event' - well, to defend the Council, everybody says that about every single event or organisation (the Council should support Accrington Stanley, the Council should support the Carnival, the Council should support businesses going under)!!!! They simply can't support every single thing, plus, as I said, this is organised by the Rotary, I don't even know if they asked the Council for support.

The newspapers charge for a four page spread. This is expensive and from what I understand the Carnival committee didn't have the money this year.

I think money has been the issue with this year's carnival from day one. It takes a lot of fund raising and a lot of volunteers to put this event on and I'm sure they've done the best they can on the money they had. For companies like Ossy Mills and Express Gifts to put floats in costs money which they don't have - would you rather have them employ an extra person for six months or put a float in the Carnival?

It's a shame that the Carnival isn't what it used to be but we should be congratulating the Rotary for at least trying to keep it going.

There are two years before the next one.

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in the current climate i dont think we can expect much from companies

people made the effort and that should be the positive. alot of companies decided to stay away as they dont want staff to b doing this and that whilst there's money to be made instore.

i think what made it seem alot worse than it was, was the rain - the weather did not help out at all

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I think that both Gayle and Mani have hit the nail on the head.......the weather does have a lot to do with how successful an event like this is........and if the money isn't there then you have to do what you can with the limited funds.

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I think North Lancs Training Group won the best trade float and the Sea Cadets won the best non trade. I know Accrington Girls and Ladies FC came 2nd in the non trade

Our esteemed Council Leader was seen on Broadway as the procession was passing as he nearly crashed into me heading to the shops

Gayle - Im sure there are financial implications of hosting the event in terms of closure of roads, street cleaning etc however as a non political feelgood event that should promote whats good about the town there should an effort to become involved, perhaps if we paid our elected members an attendance allowance then we might see a few more present

In respect of the press coverage it never struck me that the 4 page pullout was an advert but I always assumed it was a news item provided y a local family run newspaper which recognised the community that it served and that the Carnival was the showcase for many local companies and groups to pulicise themselves to the community, on a day when virtually the whole town turned out

At Accrington Girls and Ladies FC we again took part in the procession and were also at Peel Park and although that I agree this would not have been possible without the support of a lorry from Senator International, all the work on the float was undertaken by the hardwork of members of the club over the past few weeks.

I do fear for the future of the carnival as it is marketed as the famous Accrington Carnival however unless the support is there from local businesses and voluntary organisations then it will become the infamous Accrington Carnival but in years to come we will look back with good memories and wish it was still taking place

There are many orgainisations in the community that could participate in the carnival at no financial cost to themselves, they dont have to be on a float to pulicise the work they do perhaps it's more aout apathy or lack of local pride than blaming the recession

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Maybe they should put moral support on the expenses list claim form then instead of it being free :rolleyes:

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add marquee hire, marketing (posters/adverts), sound equipment hire, toilet hire, signage and notices around the area, chair and table hire, etc, etc

It was a four page pull out with adverts on - the way that sort of thing works is that the Carnival committee would have had to hand over a list of names and addresses of all organisations taking part and then the Observer would go and get advertising spend. So probably wasn't a cost that the Carnival committee would have had to stand but would have been an additional cost for participants. Newspapers have to make money.

And that's great but not every organisation can do it, plus some organisations (even voluntary ones) have paid staff who would either need paying overtime or time in lieu to work on a saturday.

There would be considerable cost - would they just stand there with no decoration, how much would the decorating cost, hiring of costumes, overtime for staff, petrol, hire of float etc.

I'm not saying that it's just the money but everyone is stretched in so many ways these days. You could argue that groups like Oswaldtwistle Players could have had a float - well who would have done all the work that goes into it - the few volunteers who also have a stage to build in a couple of months time, the same few volunteers who have to provide costumes for the play, the people who are currently running ragged with the younger group? There is only so much that so few people can do. Not every organisation has the infrastructure to be involved in everything.

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Sorry, didn't mean to sound so negative - just trying to explain why people aren't getting involved.

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The Obserer certainly supports the Carnival Queen/Princess competitions, which offers weeks and weeks of free publicity.

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Gayle ... it's the Lions .. not the Rotary ... don't think they are connected ?

Well, I think it is a disgrace that some of our local companies do not support. Ok, you talk about the money. Costs are only £50 for entry and then maybe the cost of the wagon to carry the 'cast'. Would not cost any company any more than £300 I would have thought.

Problem is, big companies do not run a Social Club anymore to organise such events, but with all the money some spend on marketing (Ossie Mills a prime example), surely this amount is not beyond their means and would create great team building. Of course, they are now cold in their catchments, meaning they market other areas rather than their home town because that is where their customers are to be found. Afraid it is management attitude, not the workers. Treated in the correct way, they would be able to create great camaraderie within their workforce !!

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Yes, sorry Kate you're quite right Lions, not Rotary. Apologies to the Lions.

You say £300 to get involved - but it's not just £300 is it, they'd have to pay the staff to do it, hire costumes, hire the float etc, I'd bet it gets to about £1,000 easily per company. Perhaps not all in hard cash but certainly not cheap.

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[quote=Gayle;723478]Yes, sorry Kate you're quite right Lions, not Rotary. Apologies to the Lions.

You say £300 to get involved - but it's not just £300 is it, they'd have to pay the staff to do it, hire costumes, hire the float etc, I'd bet it gets to about £1,000 easily per company. Perhaps not all in hard cash but certainly not :D



Nah, Gayle ... we don't hire costumes always, do we ? Wouldn't be much loss either to give the staff free time to make the float ... probably would do it voluntarily if approached in the correct way...

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The hauliers usually do it free of charge

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nice one kate i think i have started something

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We got the free use of a float from Senator International amd one of their drivers volunteered his services now perhaps this company as well as being community focused also recognised that having their logo on the float helped to raise their profile in the local community

We have had great fun in creating the float over the past few weeks and it has enabled some people within the club who had not previously been involved as volunteers to play a more active role and have a better understanding of our club

How much does a company spend on it's advertising budget, I would suggest that the minimal amount to enter the carnival would e insignificant and register well with the local community

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it's nowt to put a float into the carnival!

£50 for the entry to the procession, and like KSH says most hauliers will provide a wagon given enough notice. If a driver needs/wants paying then they'd probably do that for next to nowt or a bit of gratis from the company concerned. Many staff would also volunteer their services for a bit of team building - maybe not every year but certainly as a one off.

Going back to the Council, I wonder how many councillors would volunteer their services if the carnival was the week before elections?

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It's quite a daunting challenge to create a float - I'm pretty sure that most people are more than a bit scared and wouldn't know where to start. I'm not even sure I'd want to do it.

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I wouldn't know where to start either, I agree with what you've said so far and I'm sure the bad weather played a part in the low turn out too. It's a shame.

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We had a great day :D

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I'm not in Accrington, obviously, so I can only comment "remotely". We had our village "carnival" last weekend and, like you, I was disappointed in the lack of floats etc. The thing is it's not money that's the problem.

A float needn't cost much. You need the loan of a lorry - I don't know about Accrington but our local committee provides the insurance so that's not a problem and local firms are quite good about lending them out. You need people to decorate the lorry - my daughter, Brown Owl with a local pack, does that with her helpers, all the other orgnisations do it too. You need people dressed up - who needs to hire costumes? A bit of imagination and the odd nip and tuck works wonders.

There seems to be apathy, everywhere, about this sort of thing. It's very sad.

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Last Carnival my daughter was involved thru being head girl at Peel Park, we got driven along in the parade by Harold Hardman, he was President of the Lions at the time ( I think) , we had a great day and although the weather was pants it was a very successful event. I really can't see how people can lay the blame on local businesses, I know from experience that at branch level you can't just say, "here you go, here's £50 " It's a sackable offence .Larger business get loads of begging letters every week and most of the time our hands are tied because we have shop forums that elect a charity for the year and all we raise goes to that. I know it's hard to appreciate that big firms don't have the cash but trust me, they don't !:rolleyes:

Yes, I have experience of that too. I work for quite a large company and we have a designated charity. Like you say, we get lots of begging letters from people asking for sponsorship or donations but if we hold any events to raise money the proceeds go to Pendleside hospice.

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We're not talking though about nationwide businesses like Boots or Game shops Lyndsay, just those locally where they spend huge amounts of money on marketing to attract out-of-towners, and have had money incestives offered from our council tax to widen their business.

Non trade organisations only pay £10 ... not even necessary to have a float to be honest. Remember was involved in promoting The Hyndburn Pathfinders in a carnival ... a theatre group from the ashes of the Arts Club (which did have a float one year), and just had a group walking in pantomime gear ... me in fishnets of course. :rolleyes: Think we could have done an Ossy Players one if we had really thought about it .. not exactly short of money.

As West Ender said ... just apathy ... nowt to do with money.

Hek ... we could have had an Accyweb one !! Which blockbuster movie would we have chosen ??... would have been great fun. I know retrospective thoughts are easy aren't they.... :(

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the jungle book

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LOL .. not quite sure that is the quite the category Flashy.

Could have your Reece (with a bit of fake tan) as Mowgli ... but what about the other characters ?

Shere Khan, the ruthless Tiger ... Roy ? No ... he could be Baloo, happy-go-lucky bear.

Daren't say any more ... :D

No women though .. :(

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accyweb is full of 'characters' i'm sure we could find some who fit the bill

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yes they should try and support everything they do in other towns the councils apathy in accy is nothing short of scandalous and one of the reasons accy is dying they are a disgrace tory and labour.was the local mp not there either:confused:

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The Accrington Carnival is one of the biggest events in the town so i cant see any excuse why the local councilors cant get involved and support it.
I saw Perter Britcliffe in his shell suit heading away as fast as he could to do his shopping
I did try to stop him to ask him but just ignores everyone.

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So did we................:D

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After yesterdays procession I was talking to friends and were thinking aout carnivals from previous years going ack to the late 70's and how the carnival procession started at Thorneyholme Road went down Burnley Road along Broadway efore it was pedestrianised onto Blackburn Road and then up to the College, the crowds along the route were massive.

I'm sure the demise of the local companies like Karrimor has had an impact on participation and local companies being absorbed into larger national companies perhaps there's no longer the commitment to local events.

Yesterday I walked on the pavement behind "the crowds" and along the route even at the busiest points it was no more than 3 or 4 deep

Although the weather may have reduced the size of the crowd this had nothing to do with the size of the procession for a town the size of Accrington it should have been much bigger. Our float at Accrington Girls and Ladies cost nothing apart from some creative talent and hours of volunteers time and the enthusiasm of our girls (well gone girls you did your club proud)

On the positive side what as a participant what did we get out of yesterday?

a memorale day for our members being in the carnival
built team spirit by all our teams being together
involved some of our parents in the event in leaflet distribution
allowed us to give massive pulicity to the local community regarding Accrington Girls and Ladies FC
hopefully will attract new members to our club
(major event this Tuesday at Hyndurn Sports Centre Tuesday June 23 6pm - 8pm to promote girls football, further details at Accrington Girls & Ladies FC Home - sorry had to get the plug in)

At the carnival field I was talking to the Accrington Wildcats Rugy League Club, they were in the procession dressed in their kits and had a stall at the field, that didn't cost anything but like ourselves it will have raised their profile.

thanks for all those who did take part lets hope next time we have a few more organisations taking part

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oh good... was beginning to think i stumbled into Colne Gala instead :D

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My friend and I had a charity stall on the field at Peel Park , a bottle tombola in fact.there was a good turnout of families , and yes the Mayor was there. Also was Kenny Baker and Star Wars characters. The weather could have been better or a damn site worse. I did not see the parade but on the field a success.

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I went to the school and had a wander round (avoided the precession etc) the boys enjoyed it..........

Speaking of which, does anyone have a spare goldfish bowl :rolleyes:

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Just out of interest, if the haulage company provides the flat back lorry, who pays the insurance premium to cover the people riding around on the back? Is it done through a blanket policy paid by the Accy lions? One thing is for sure - in these risk-adverse times, that policy won't come cheap.

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Bet if you look hard enough you'll find you already have one emzy, its about 5 foot long 2 feet deep and is near the toilet, goldfish just love a good swim:D

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Oh I used to LOVE watching the carnival in Accy when I was a child

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I used to love the ones by The Peter Pan Club ... they won a few times too.
What happened to them, did they amalgamate with another group ?

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are they not still at Westend Community Centre Kate?

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Shucks ... thanks Susie.

Don't know Flashy .. haven't heard of them for years, but their floats were always excellent.