It’s Saturday morning on the 13th July 1985, and there’s a dilemma brewing in my household I’m indifferent with. I’m twelve, aware I should do what my mum tells me, but I’m easily persuaded by my older brother, who is adamant he doesn’t want to go to our town carnival, because Live Aid is being televised….
My mum insists, we are not staying in to watch television, no matter if it’s the greatest show we’d ever see, and fundraising for a vital cause, we are going to carnival, we “have” to go to carnival, everyone “has” to go to carnival!
With the sad news breaking that, due to a lack of funding, Trowbridge Carnival has had to be cancelled, I find myself dwelling on the memory; that, despite being a relatively average family far from raging revellers, my parents thought carnival was virtually a religious tradition we could not miss, whereas I found myself agreeing with my brother’s entreaty based on his plea that “carnival is for children,” and often, I still do.
For the record, thanks to our recent video recorder rental, the dilemma was resolved, as, using the newspaper’s schedule for Live Aid, my brother hastily and half-heartedly programmed its timer to catch the unmissable performances, while mum yelled at him to put his shoes on!
It didn’t go to plan. The consequence of my brother and I being disgruntled and publicly displaying our rebellion, meant no one in my family enjoyed the carnival as much as we might have done when we were younger. Plus, Live Aid suffered lengthy delays in its program, which didn’t align with my brother’s attempts to time the video recorder and we ended up missing several key moments!
Given a seemingly teenage consensus that carnival is too immature for them, I found this memory furthered by recalling my time spent in Marlborough where the view was similar among younger people, and even my move to Devizes as an adult, where the sentiment was also reflected.
Banter that our carnival was rather “sad” leaves me wondering if our generation caused the demise of town carnivals. That, perhaps, carnival committees need to address how they can create a diverse carnival to appeal to all ages, and if, and how, that’s even possible. Satisfying teenagers is no easy feat; should carnival be on TikTok it might yet be saved!
Yet, what is “sad” to me now is that, with the availability and rising trend of music festivals and other similar events, traditional carnivals cannot maintain the attraction they once did, are in decline, and Trowbridge’s isn’t the only one suffering; all readily made free events are.
We could point a finger at the government for underfunding The Arts Council, but historically, carnivals have always been self-funded, through local fundraising events, public subscriptions, and charity collections. Who recalls the joy of recklessly throwing coins onto floats?! Who got hit by one of those heavyweight two pence coins, kept calm and carried on?!
I could take the rose-tinted specs route, or get all patriotic on you, but, I’d rather not! Certainly, price rises for health and safety regulations, first aid, policing costs, and event management is a definite factor, but could the blame game really stop at the public, and their enthusiasm to contribute, financially and motivationally?
If so, it is with bittersweet sympathy I should look upon this with the “you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone” notion, and wonder if perhaps losing carnivals might in the future make us look upon what we missed, and reinvent carnival again. For which, losing a carnival is a shame now, but for them to make a Rocky style comeback, would be no bad thing.
Or maybe I’m totally wrong, losing town carnivals is bad, might be forever, and is a sad reflection on our era. We all should not be so patronising, that we should recall a time when we loved carnival, be more like our parent’s generation, insistent carnival is a must, and attempt to make them enjoyable for all by making an effort to fund and attend them as best we can in these trying times. For the sum of a carnival’s parts is nothing without the spirit of the folk attending, supporting.
In particular areas where carnival remains strong, from Bridgwater to Notting Hill via Pewsey, they miraculously find a way through the hard times, likely because of the full support of the community. I’m grateful to Devizes Town Council for stepping in and helping DOCA with our carnival, but maybe we should all address any timeworn ideas we might have that carnivals are “a bit naff,” or “for children,” because if we carry these notions they will be, because the folk make it what it is. And right now, it’s not progressing to much more than a tin of beans.
Live Aid, though, I remember seeing Queen via a dodgy VHS recording, and Sue Pollard from Hi-De-Hi too, and that’s as far as my memory stretches!
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