accy carnival

tosh · 20-06-2009, 15:03

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,

flashy · 20-06-2009, 16:07

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

stevie96 · 20-06-2009, 16:14

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

BERNADETTE · 20-06-2009, 16:25

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.

hedman2003 · 20-06-2009, 16:32

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?

maccawozzagod · 20-06-2009, 16:46

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?

tosh · 20-06-2009, 16:49

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.

lancsdave · 20-06-2009, 16:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by tosh

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.

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

BERNADETTE · 20-06-2009, 17:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by tosh

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.

The mayor was in the parade

Gayle · 20-06-2009, 17:14

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.

mani · 20-06-2009, 17:34

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

Margaret Pilkington · 20-06-2009, 17:38

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.

hedman2003 · 20-06-2009, 18:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by maccawozzagod

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?

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

lancsdave · 20-06-2009, 18:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gayle

They simply can't support every single thing, plus, as I said, this is organised by the Rotary,

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

Gayle · 20-06-2009, 18:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by hedman2003

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

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

Quote:

Originally Posted by hedman2003

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

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.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hedman2003

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.

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.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hedman2003

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

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.