Local carnivals - was I dreaming?

It's a North Wales thing. We saw one in Barmouth. Couldn't decide if it was quite sweet - or weird.

Bit tacky I guess.

Back home in Yorkshire we always had local carnivals. I was a carnival queen when I was about 14 and I loved it!. Where I live now they call them club days and all the local areas will have them in the next few weeks

There are a number across Devon each year. Paignton has an annual one. The biggest I have seen is Bridgewater Carnival, which seems to have hundreds of entrants, with illuminated displays on trucks and the procession goes on for hours.

There have been a couple of carnival parades here in Manchester today, and a Cheshire one I know about last weekend. Whit Sunday was aways a popular day for Whit Walks, with miles of main roads closed off whilst they passed through. Lots of dressed floats, brass bands, children walking and twirling batons.

Our town in N.Kent has had a carnival parade for as long as I can remember. It used to be a really big event with several large lorries would decked out with various themes. Several bands and people dressed up on foot. These would be organized buy local firms and organizations. DH took part as couple of times with the rugby club. There have always been carnival princess floats taking part. Floats from other districts would come and there would be a prize for the best princess float. They had junior princess and for a few years OAP princess my nan was one back in the '60s.
Carnival still happens but there are nowhere near as many entrants.

I know lots of places have carnivals, it was the princesses that were amazing. Interesting that the same tradition existed in N Kent. But has it not died out in most places?
It reminded me of the thing where Catholics dress up girls in expensive bridesmaids dresses for their first communion. I was gobsmacked when i witnessed this in DH's family. People who were not well off spending £hundreds on a frock to be worn on a single occasion. (I think increasingly churches are saying "school uniform only" in an attempt to check this crazy escalation)
I suppose nowadays we see it in weddings where there are umpteen expensively arrayed bridesmaids. (Also high school - and increasingly junior school proms.?)
Maybe all this dressing up of children in bridal gear is a hangover of a tradition of displaying your pubescent daughter in the best finery that the family can afford and parading her through the streets on a festival day, so that the men can look them over as prospective brides. I guess that is it. It happens in African cultures where the marriageable girls all get dressed up and show off their dancing etc so why not here?

I think you are thinking too much Jess. People just like a little colour in their lives.

We never have carnivals but I wish we did. After witnessing the Moros y Cristianos in Spain, I really miss going to that. It's a fabulous way of bringing some of the history to life in that way. The costumes are amazing and even babies in pushchairs take part - dressed up too! The brass bands following each section of the parade are also brilliant to listen to. Such a fun day out.

For anyone interested, some pictures of the carnival: https://www.google.com/search?q=moros+y+cristianos+spain&client=firefox-a&hs=s7Y&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&channel=np&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=dA6UU93hKoqqOoPQgJgK&ved=0CEAQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=611

And these are just ordinary, local people taking part. It goes on all day and finishes with a mock battle and the obligatory firework display. Wonderful

Yes we still have them here in Stockport and surrounding towns and the queens come from quite a distance to be in the parade.I have to say they vary from sweet to tacky.However only this week Stockport MBC has announced that this year will be the last due to financial restraints. Amongst the happy campers will be motorists as the roads are closed on Saturday afternoons for a few hours.

Not saying there are no positive aspects Stansgran but I am in cultural shock and thinking "what would an anthropologist say about this" works for me

It's just a bit of fun - can't get too hung up about the gender thing.

Better than the carnival a few years back which involved burning a mock-up of a gypsy caravan - now that did pull my chain.

There are a couple of carnivals here every year with carnival queens and princesses. Not my cup of tea at all but the girls seem to love it. Maybe some of them go on being Miss United Kingdom etc., it's pretty harmless . There have been carnivals like this in Canada and the USA for years, I'm sure that's where we got it from. Or it's from the old May Day celebrations where there was a May Queen and her attendants, this celebration goes back thousands of years.

It does sound a bit Irish and reminded me also of the Irish dancing competitions where pretty young girls are made to look tacky . We used to have a village carnival but it died a death, like most village things; a combination of people not having the time and elf'n'safety regulations. On the subject of which, The Gate to Southwell, where the morris dancers walk [or bus it] from Nottingham to Southwell had it's last day yesterday [been going for hundreds of years apparently albeit with a gap also of hundreds of years in between] due to ef'n'safety; Flagg Point to Point has stopped [ditto] and I'm not sure about the Bacup dancers [ditto]. It's all gone bonkers imo.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNbGYRSsV8g

we still have local carnival here in Lancashire...floats,children/dressing up themes...bands etc etc ..but in recent yrs it has dwindled..due to the cost of diesel for the wagons health n safety etc etc .....

We have one where we live. It's always the second weekend in June and it always seems to rain.

We have some carnivals and processions here in Norfolk. General ending at the local rec with a fete. Where we used to live it was called a Guile and involved a man dressed as a dragon stealing hats and snapping at people. Sometimes there used to be Morris dancing but now it's dwile flonking.

There are a couple of parades near to me, Knutsford May queen and also Mobberley (a small village) has just had their Rose Queen day, where it's a huge honour for the chosen 'queen'.
Unfortunately it causes such dreadful traffic congestion that the locals are trapped unless they leave the village very early in the day!

Nfk "dwile flonking"?? The mind boggles!

Lona....you have not lived if you have not flonked a dwile!!!!
I wait with baited breath for Nfk dumplings explanation of the nobel art of dwile flonking!

I was carnival queen when I was 11. I had pageboys and about 6 attendants and everyone was dressed up. I wore a long white dress with a red cloak and lovely large crown and we all walked down the village to the school. It was super and I can remember it so well. A few years ago I went back to see the carnival procession and it was quite sad to see the queen and her few attendants in their normal clothes. Somehow the sense of occasion had been lost completley.
What I don't like to see are sometimes very young girls with their hair and makeup done to extremes and dressed in a very adult fashion. That really gives me the creeps

DS2 was May Queen's attendant when he was five, dressed in red velvet breeches and waistcoat and a frilly cream shirt. He looked very cute and carried the crown on a velvet cushion. When the time came for the 'coronation' we found him crawling through a hedge! He was that kind of child. He seemed to quite enjoy the day and likes to see the photos. (I must get them out next time his girlfriend is here.)

I'm sure gma that you're more familiar with the rules than me - but for those who've never flocked a dwile :-

www.thenorfolkbroads.org/Dwile%20Flonking

That link doesn't work Nfk.........or is that the point?