Just like that, another Isle of Wight Carnival Season is over for another year.
Newport Carnival faced the brunt of the poor weather in 2024 – both our main and illuminated processions were wet.
However, after our main was cancelled last year, we were more determined to go ahead with this year’s parades than ever.
We were supported well by the local community with donations in the collection buckets, but despite our best efforts, we were down on funds in 2024.
During our inspections on the carnival float at the start of the year, it was deemed unsafe to go ahead with the carnival season without replacing the twin axles. All four tyres needed replacing, the brakes needed upgrading, and one of the axles was showing signs of old age.
The decision was made to purchase a new pair of axels, for £2,500 plus labour.
This along with all of our other outgoing costs such as the float build, storage, public liability insurance, clothing etc, we have seen the crunch.
We are hoping that we can recuperate costs quickly before the 2025 carnival season via various fundraising opportunities.
The carnival relies heavily on car boot sales which take place at the Isle of Wight County Show Ground, however, due to the poor weather, we have cancelled over 50% of them this year.
There are also new car boot sales popping up all over the island and the attendance rate at ours is now plummeting.
If you can spare some money and would like to support Newport Carnival, you can do so by donating here.
Besides this, we had a fantastic season, with an amazing number of awards given to us.