Memories of Kenilworth Carnival

The origins of Kenilworth Carnival are really interesting, it is generally agreed to have ‘started’ in 1926, developing from an earlier fund raising event (approx. 40 years older). The original fund raising event was a way of donating funds to Warneford Hospital in Leamington. In 1925 there were two parades, both with different fund raising goals and although these were not linked at the time, it is possible that these two parades sparked what was to become the procession part of The Kenilworth Carnival. The afternoon / evening during the 1926 Carnival included dancing in the Abbey Fields to a band; the following year permission to use Abbey Fields for a fair on carnival Day was granted, and in 1928 cars were allowed to park in the Abbey Fields and the attendance at the fair exceeded the population of the town. Also in 1928, another tradition of the Carnival was started - having a Carnival Queen. The first Carnival Queen was actually from Coventry (which caused a little controversy) however, the following year we had our first Kenilworth Carnival Queen from Kenilworth.

Started by very generous people in the town approximately 122 years ago; changed and developed along the way; with a different charity to collect for - Kenilworth Carnival is a great tradition, one which has been going for years, and I hope it never dies out.

Having lived in Kenilworth all my life, I have seen a fair few Carnival processions; seen the choosing of the Carnival Queen many a time; been to the fair a lot; and even been an entrant with Brownies, family and friends. My memories of Kenilworth Carnival are of a vibrant and noisy procession through the streets of Kenilworth for a day during the summer, followed by fun at the fair.

As a child, I remember sitting on the hill watching the procession go by and I remember being scared to death by the ‘cowboy’ who would fire his guns into the air - I would hide behind my mum! We would watch as lorries (floats) would be slowly driving up Rosemary Hill with weird and wonderful displays on them and we would hurl pennies and two pence’s onto the bed of the floats in order to help raise funds for charity. There were plenty of fancy dress walkers in between the floats, dressed as characters from popular culture, or from individual imaginations.

After the procession we would go down to the Abbey Fields and have a go on some of the rides at the fair, we would win prizes on the hook a duck and various other stalls and I would be so happy when my mum would win me my yearly goldfish. We would walk home past all the other kids in the street picking up the mislaid coins off the ground, knowing that this money would be used down the fair later on that night.

For further reading on the carnival history:
( http://victorian.reuna.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11&Itemid=14 )