Carnival Report 2001

Carnival 2001 turned out to be one of the most popular and well attended events ever in village history.

The theme this year was “2001: A Space Oddity… (no one could spell Odyssey!)”.

The weekend kicked off in style on Saturday 25th August with a music evening with Ben Waters And His Band supported by Catalyst and everyone enjoyed a barbecue and bar in the sports field.

On Sunday afternoon the village were treated to another visit from the ever-popular Porterhouse Jazz Six, again with barbecue and bar to get everyone in the mood for the big carnival. The “six” were: Dave Arnold – drums, Martin Horsfall – trumpet, Colin Nash – clarinet, and Margaret Thompson – bass; the trombone was brilliantly played by Graham Allsworth, and there was the welcome appearance of guest banjo player Richard White.

The carnival processed through the village at 1.00 pm on a glorious bank holiday Monday led by the drums and symbols of the Army Cadet Band.

At the cricket field there were stalls, games and entertainment, as well as the serious business conducted inside the craft and produce tent where all classes were hotly contested.

In the absence of the sheep shearing, the rare breeds and the clay pigeon shooting the display of vintage tractors was the sole representation of the farming activities of the village due to foot-and-mouth restrictions on the transport of animals and the bringing of infection to farmland.

The Hinton Skydiving Display Team dropped in once again this year to provide a fitting finale for this most successful day. In all over 2,000 people attended and the money raised will go to village and local charities.

Helmdon Carnival Committee would like to thank all of the people who assisted in making this year’s Carnival such an enjoyable event. We would like to thank the organisations and their members for their support, for the many people who gave up their time over the weekend, our sponsors and all of the people who attended the events. Sadly this year will be the last time our ‘adopted archers’ from Wappenham, Graham and Di Palmer, will be at the carnival, and we wish them well.

Should anyone be interested in joining the committee in the forthcoming year can you please contact Peter Burns on [phone number removed] or Simon Oakley on [phone number removed].

Read what the Brackley Post said…..