Our 2011 Illuminated Carnival took place on October 15th, and was a spectacular success see the results here!

Our 2011 Children's Carnival took place on October 8th, and was a great success see the results here!

Castle Cary & Ansford Carnivals

The Castle Cary & Ansford Carnivals take place annually in October. Our Children’s
Carnival usually takes place on the afternoon of the second Saturday, when children
and parents process through Castle Cary town centre. The Illuminated Carnival takes
places on the evening of the following Saturday.

Last year, our Children's carnival took place on October 8th and our Illuminated
Evening Carnival took place on October 15th. Both were an amazing success,
see the results here!

For 2012, our Children’s Carnival takes place on Saturday 6 October and our Evening
Carnival takes place on Saturday 13 October.

But we need your help: it costs around £5000 to run the two carnivals each year. Cary's
carnivals are run entirely by volunteers, with virtually no public or charitable funding. Last
year, we were OK - but we have struggled to find the funds for this year's events. And
2013 will be more difficult... Can you help? We're looking for sponsors, and for donations
of any size. If you would like to become a Cary Carnival Sponsor, please see our
Get Involved page and get in touch with us to find out more. And if you simply want to
donate, why not send us a cheque, or use the easy-peasy floaty Donate button on the
right of this page! Either way, you can be sure your money will go directly to help make
sure our Carnival stays alive in these difficult times.

 

Carnival Events

Around the time of the Illuminated Carnival, a fun fair is in town, and high street traders compete in a window-dressing competition. The Carnival Committee produces a 64-page Carnival Programme,on sale locally, which provides information about the Carnival, serves as a directory to the local businesses that advertise in it, and includes competitions. On our pages you will see line drawings that have appeared in our Programmes, drawn by Committee member Pam Pope. On the evening of the procession there are barbeques, hog roasts, and other hot food and drinks around the town.

Carnival Charity Donations

Cary’s carnivals raise around £3000 each year, donated to local causes. Applications can be made throughout the year and donations are decided in February.
In 2011, we shared over £2400 between fourteen deserving causes - including Camelot Rounders, Castle Cary’s Millbrook Surgery, the Monday Club, Mulfulira High Exchange, Cary Scouts, Toybox Preschool, Somerset & Dorset Air Ambulance , Tiddlywinks Parent & Toddler Group, Britannia Carnival Club, Cary Comedians Carnival Club, St John’s Ambulance, Dorset & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service and Avon & Somerset Police. In these hard times, that’s what Carnival can do for our community!

Somerset's Family Carnival

Popularly known as "Somerset's Family Carnival", the Illuminated procession typically includes two marching bands, four majorette troupes and an impressive array of floats, group and single walking entries. Of course, it also includes many local entries: chief among these are the Cary Cygnet Majorettes and the Britannia and Cary Comedians carnival clubs. Local entries do not have to compete against Wessex circuit entrants, so local folk can easily register and take part in our procession.

Wessex Grand Prix Circuit

The Illuminated Carnival is part of the Wessex Grand Prix Circuit,
which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2010. The Wessex circuit comprises nine towns from Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire. Entrants from these towns visit and compete against each other throughout the Autumn - our carnival is sixth in sequence in this circuit.

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