Riverfest, a fun, free, community event organised and run by Newport Carnival & Community Event Association has been presented with a Bronze Award for Best Island Event.
The Red Funnel Isle of Wight Awards is an annual event that has been running for well over a decade. It highlights some of the best businesses and events in the tourism industry.
Nominations for Best Island Event opened earlier in 2024 and we received news that we had been shortlisted.
The awards evening took place at Northwood House in Cowes on Thursday 7th November where we, along with other tourism stars celebrated their successes.
Local firm Widget Productions lit Northwood House in purples, pinks, and blues to celebrate the Island’s Dark Skies. Photos can be seen below.
Newport Carnival’s Chair Paddy McHugh was accompanied by Vice Chair Shane Thornton in receiving the Bronze Award, which was presented to them by Red Funnel’s CEO Fran Collins.
The awards ceremony was presented by radio legend, Mark Collins from former Wave 105, now Greatest Hits Radio.
Paddy McHugh, Chair of Newport Carnival shared his excitement:
“I am truly over the moon to have got this far in the awards.
“To be shortlisted, it meant the world to me, and my amazing team.
“I am so proud to walk away with a Bronze Award.”
Shane Thornton, Vice-Chair of Newport Carnival added:
“The amount of work that goes into events is insane, months and months of work, loads of long days, plenty of planning, fundraising and thought goes into creating what we do.
“I joined Newport Carnival over 5 years ago, the team we have is strong, they are committed and pull together to make these fun, free, family events a success.
“I would like to express my thank you to each and every one of you who voted for Riverfest, and to the Judges who took their time to pick their top three Island events.”
Riverfest congratulates Isle of Wight Takeover and Walk the Wight with Mountbatten for coming Silver and Gold respectively.
Riverfest is officially, the Isle of Wight’s 3rd Best Island Event!
Thank you to Red Funnel for making these awards possible.
Below are some photos taken by Red Funnel of the awards evening with some creations by the brilliant Shademakers UK can be found on the Riverfest website.