28 March 2024

Hats off to the carnival team!

Time and space are a bit against me again this week.

That sounds rather grander than it is – it’s nothing to do with science fiction, but the necessity driven by newspaper column inches and strict deadlines. Such is life… and I can’t quite believe where the time goes and how we just about manage to make a weekly paper come together every Wednesday afternoon.

At about 11am, everything seems fine, and it’s all under control – but that’s the calm before the storm, and suddenly a million things need doing at once. The final couple of hours whizz by in what feels like five minutes, and then the printers are on the phone, yet again, asking us to get a shift on. Meanwhile, people are ringing up and coming through the door…

But anyway – our Wednesday madness is nothing like what Hornsea Carnival chairman Iain Poole and his team will have been experiencing in the past few weeks ahead of the event. “Knackered,” was how he put it, when I asked him how he was the other day. I think he was too tired to elaborate.

What an achievement by such a small and close-knit team to pull off such a huge event. I went for a few hours on Saturday and it looked amazing. It was really nice to sit back and enjoy a beer and some music after a wander around the stalls. It brought back memories of the first time I went, years ago, when I was rather amused by a band called The Underpants Explode singing Floral Hall to the tune of Wonderwall. I think I’m showing my age there.

It must have been great for the town’s wider economy as the streets were rammed with people, and lots of them will have been spending in the pubs and cafes outside Hall Garth Park. So, if you can throw a few quid Hornsea Carnival’s way, then please do – it’ll ensure the event comes back even bigger and better next year.