It was a good evening for Holsworthy Carnival on Saturday 17 November. Unlike 2017, it stayed dry for the event – although the wind was cold. There were even reports of a small tornado on Waterloo Road just before the procession got underway, though thankfully there were no Wizard of Oz entries in this year’s Carnival!

The evening began with the crowning of this year’s Carnival Queen (13-year old Evony-Rose Bright from Holsworthy Community College), and this year’s Carnival Princess (8-year old Paige Chidley from Holsworthy Primary School) on the balcony of the White Hart Hotel at 7pm. The two girls looked lovely in their Royal costumes and there was a large crowd in front of the White Hart to watch the ceremony.

This year the Carnival Committee wanted to do something to mark the one-hundredth anniversary of the ending of World War I on 11 November 2018. So this year’s procession was led off by 100 school children carrying giant poppies. The children came from Holsworthy Primary School and the Community College – and other local schools including Clawton Primary School. It was a fitting way to end the celebrations for the one-hundredth anniversary of the ending of the war – something that the town as a whole did wonderfully in the weeks leading up to 11 November.

The procession itself was huge this year – the end of the parade hadn’t even reached the half-way point by the time that the front of the procession had actually finished the entire route. The size of the crowd lining the streets of Holsworthy was also enormous this year. Estimates ranged from between 3,500 to 4,500 people – though the exact number isn’t really known. Richard Hutchings (former Holsworthy Lions President and current Chairman of the St Peter’s Fair Committee) said that it was the biggest crowd he had seen in at least 30 years. The procession of floats and was, as always, wonderfully colourful and noisy.

The independent judges had a very difficult time judging all the entrants to this year’s Carnival as the standard was particularly high. The final results were as follows:

Best Royal tableau (R1): 1st place Hatherleigh Carnival Queen; 2nd place Hatherleigh Prince & Princess; 3rd place Barnstaple Royalty.

Best Royal car (R2): 1st place Boscastle Royalty.

Best artistic float/tableau – open (A1): 1st place Tamar Side Singers; 2nd place The late Charlie Nicholls – Devon Air Ambulance.

Young Farmers’ Club (A2): 1st place Winkleigh – 200 years of the circus; 2nd place Bradworthy – Brad Army; 3rd place Stratton YFC.

Best Tradesman’s tableau/float (A5): 1st place Harpers Farm Supplies – War Cow; 2nd place Mac Plant Construction; 3rd place RTS Transport – Polly.

Vintage (A6): 1st place Holsworthy Vintage Club – D. Edwards; 2nd place Eddie the Camaro; 3rd place Ford Capri.

Children’s tableau/float – Organisations (C3): 1st place Beavers – Baby Shark; 2nd place Cubs – Jungle Book; 3rd place SW Truckers – Piston Cup.

Children’s tableau/float – Non-organisations (C4): 1st place Candy Land; 2nd place Elfing Around; 3rd place Life on Mars.

Adults walking (A3): 1st place Votes for Women; 2nd place HATS.

Decorated wheeled vehicle – not-motorised (A4): 1st place Old McDonald had a Farm; 2nd place Kevin Saves Christmas.

Individual – under 16 years walking (C1): 1st place Santa’s Little Helper.

Groups – under 16 years walking (C2): 1st place Bude RFC.

The top prize for the best tableau/float on the evening was awarded to the Beavers – Baby Shark.

Holsworthy Carnival Committee Chairman, Ted England, said that he was very pleased that this year’s Carnival had been so successful and so well-attended. He extended his thanks to all the members of the Carnival Committee (Lions and non-Lions alike) for their hard work over the past year. He also extended his thanks to all the organisations and individuals (too numerous to mention individually) who gave up their time to help on the evening itself. The Carnival Committee as a whole would like to thank all the people who took part in this year’s event – and all those who lined the streets to watch it. We look forward to seeing you all again in 2019.

A selection of photos for you to browse: