The Cheese Show has been and gone and the fair is in the market yard so that must mean it is the Carnival this weekend.
The Frome carnival was started in 1929 by workers at the Butler and Tanner print works. At that time Frome had lots of industries and it was workers that often clubbed together to create a carnival float. Today, though the impressive big floats are mostly made by carnival clubs, the small scale entries can be fantastically creative. In 2010 I helped with the Home in Frome entry. It was a huge house all lit up with low energy LED lights. I’ll never forget the impact of walking down Bath Street seeing hundreds of people being amazed at the sight! Wouldn’t it be great if some of the newer businesses, shops, cafes or even residents of a street clubbed together to create an entry? A great opportunity to dress up!
Anyone can join in the fun, you can apply to enter up to and including the day of the carnival. Frome carnival is a charity that raises money for local people in need so if getting sorted to make an entry feels too much, you could volunteer to help collect money.
This year things have been changing in the world of carnival. Instead of queens and princesses, the carnival organisers have decided that ambassadors will represent their work. In this way boys as well as girls can take part. A couple of weeks ago I helped choose his year’s ambassadors. Such a hard job but out of a great group of kids, who were all massively enthusiastic about carnival, we chose some bubbly, chatty and brilliant representative for Frome Carnival.
Hope to see you on the streets this Saturday to contribute to this piece of Frome history that with your help will stay part of Frome’s future.
