31/08/2008 by admin.

Last night (30th Aug 2008) proved to be a wonderful evening of spectacle from the Massed band of 120 musicians for 120 years and the “Celebration” Queen costume at the front of the carnival to The Renegades of Rampage Mas Band from Luton.

The evening was everything we had all hoped the sun shone during the day leaving us with a balmy evening which lifted spirits. The crows was absolutely amazing with the streets packed with locals and visitors alike. People joined in from the crowd, they were entertained by RAW Samba prior to the carnival setting off in the high street. The Masses Band of 120 musicians marched ahead of the procession stopping on a regular basis to entertain the waiting crowds.

The Queen costume lead the rest of the parade with rapturous applause and cheering as the costume was spun giving the crowd a glittering  star  and balloon filled vision. The Ryde carnival float came out in full glory with bubbles flowing through the air and the horses lit from inside giving a surreal undersea glow, our young people partied away as usual. Then came the islands own community carnival group Mas Fusion with their outstanding Migoto Matsuri Festival of 120 members who danced and cheered their way around the route showing what a superb quality of carnival is achievable on the Island and proving that the Island is up there with the best designers and groups from the mainland.

Local schools joined in, including Ryde High School who produced a wonderful tableau with well choreographed dance routines that deserved all the applause and cheers they received. Greenmount Samba band headed by their brilliant headteacher Richard May  with their dancers showed just how far schools are able to encompass adults and children alike in carnival.  The beautiful “Butterflies and bugs” from Bishop Lovett worked wonders with their beautiful fluttering display of dance.  The Carnival Centre brought the wonderful “Earth Magic” troupe to the streets with a fabulous music and infectious dance routines again receiving cheers as they traveled the route.

“Santa’s Confused.com” thrilled us all with their wonderfully wacky take on global warming with prancing reindeer who kept collapsing due to heat exhaustion, Christmas fairies, elves, baubles and of course Mr and Mrs Clause with all the fun of the pantomime thrown in. Another brilliant local group was the Wight Strollers who’s “Biggles” tableaux produced some classic flight formations which the crowds absolutely loved.

The three visiting Mas Bands from London and Luton gave the carnival extra punch and thrill and were very well received with their fun and very energetic dance routines interdispersed with beautiful costumes ranging from giant wasps to beautiful butterflies, magic carpets and eastern promise, beautiful flags and banners. We are so pleased that they were able to join in our celebrations of what had to be the highlight of the carnival season on the Isle of Wight.

In between the various large troupes were the Queen’s Floats from the other Carnival Associations from around the island adding beauty and grace to the parade, it was lovely to see all of the floats  at the parade. There were also tributes to Abba with a group named “Mamma Mia” highlighting the never ending popularity of this group and of course the  film and stage show, there was also a “Thriller” group remembering that Michael Jackson was 50 on Friday. Grease was also represented by a group with Sandy and Danny dancing on the back of their car.  Ryde Extreme Performers walked around the route on stilts, as did a spectacular “Snow Queen” and two black devils. The local fancy dress-hire shop Masquaryde had a brilliant take on the jungle with warriors in African style costumes and stilt walkers. Not only the young took part, the Murphy Sisters dressed up as two badly behaved Nuns, who played some very funny tunes as they drove around on their scooters.

Previous Queen’s and their attendants joined members of the Ryde Carnival Association on an open top bus  to enjoy watching the parade from a different angle. Another open top bus joined the parade named “The Magic Bus” with dancers in fancy dress costume partying away. We also had an excellent tribute to the Shadows, namely the “5 O’Clock Shadows” who played Shadow’s music around the route. Ventnor’s Comic Jazz Band turned up and as usual entertained us with their eccentric behaviour, with one member turning up in a wheel chair having broken his leg.

We would like to thank everyone who took part in the procession, the excellent stewards who made the carnival run so smoothly and of course the public for watching.  We would love to hear any comments that you have about the carnival celebrations this year.

Posted in Raising Awareness, General | Print | No Comments »

29/08/2008 by admin.

Ryde Carnival’s Procession Officer Brenda Livingstone has set up a Facebook group for past Queen’s and Attendants - This little site will have photographs of the Queen’s and the floats and anyone can add their photographs to it.Facebook Ryde Carnival Past Queen’s and Attendants page

Posted in Raising Awareness, General | Print | No Comments »

27/08/2008 by admin.

We have been trying to get the photographs of the Ryde Arts Festival parade on line for weeks, but due to circumstances beyond our control it’s only been possible to sort them out today.

The photographs have been taken by our Publicity Officer Claire Kay and a number have also been contributed  by Mandy from Wight Studio.
If you wish to order a photograph please contact us via info@rydecarnival.co.uk stating the number/s and sizes required and we will let you know the cost and where to order them from.

Posted in Raising Awareness, Whats on, General | Print | No Comments »

27/08/2008 by admin.

Due to an error by the printers our Programme has some incorrect information in it.
We need to point out that the Children’s Carnival procession starts at the top end of Dover Street, NOT the Esplanade as printed in the programme.
Also all schools will be judged on the route during all processions to enable the judges to view all aspects of the costumes and performances.

The route map shows the correct start point of all three parades.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Posted in Raising Awareness, General | Print | No Comments »

15/08/2008 by admin.

Ryde Carnival has been looking at new ways to help boost our revenue to ensure that the carnivals
go from strength to strength and to ensure we have a long term relationship with local businesses who advertise in our carnival programme. So we now offer advertising opportunities for local businesses on our website. The advertisers who took up adverts in this years programme now have a bespoke page of adverts with direct links to their websites if they have one. Please support these local businesses through out the year, you will also see the Ryde businesses located on our map.

If you are interested in advertising on the Ryde Carnival website please contact our website administrator at info@rydecarnival.co.uk.

Posted in Raising Awareness, General | Print | No Comments »

05/07/2008 by admin.

Although the future of the carnival is still in the balance, members of the Ryde Carnival Association have been working very hard behind the scenes to raise funds towards future carnivals.  From Games Nights to selling advertising space in our programme we are raising awareness in the Ryde community that if things don’t get better the carnival will disappear into oblivion.

Our chairperson Mel Payn ran a games night at her house which raised £85.00. 

The 60s and 70s Nostalgia Night on the 31st May was a big hit with the local community, we raised £390. We would like to thank our sponsors for the evening The Ryde Castle Hotel, who hosted the event.

After another successful sponsored “Bag Pack” at Ryde Somerfield’s on 28th June raised £500 for the Ryde Carnival Association funds. Five members of the committee worked very hard again from 10.00am that morning until 4.00pm packing shoppers bags for them, we would like to thank everyone who donated money for the work carried out.

Our publicity officer Claire Kay has been able to secure 17 adverts from local companies in Ryde and beyond. These businesses have enabled us to cover the full production costs of this years’ Programme without using money from our budget for this year. By purchasing these adverts these local companies are showing their support for this wonderful event. The Ryde Carnival Association in support for these businesses have added their businesses to our route map and are giving them 12 months Free advertising on the website, this is the Associations way of thanking these businesses for their continued support.

Posted in Raising Awareness, General | Print | No Comments »

23/04/2008 by admin.

This article appeared in The Isle of Wight County Press last weekend and it highlights the seriousness of our situation. Mel Payn the Chairperson of Ryde Carnival Association, has reiterated the problems that we face after Claire Kay, our web ,had raised the issue the week before with IW Radio and Meridian TV. All we ask is that the community of Ryde help keep the carnival going. Nothing could be worse than in a few years local businesses complaining that they have lost approximately £1 million in revenue because the carnival folded.

By Emily Pearce - Thursday, April 17, 2008 IW County Press.
A WARNING has been issued Ryde Carnival might be forced to fold, due to lack of money.
Organisers have blamed the community for bringing the carnival, thought to be the oldest such street festival in the country, to the brink of closure.
Mel Payn, chairman of Ryde Carnival Association, said: “The carnival costs around £10,000 to stage each year and most of that comes from street collections and other fundraising. We also receive £1,000 from Ryde Town Management Committee, which comes from the budget allocated by the IW Council but that amount is not guaranteed every year.
“The real problem is the lack of community support for the carnival. I just don’t think people are aware of the cost and where we get the money from. Lots of people who watch the carnival are very generous but I would estimate around half of the spectators don’t give anything at all. About 45,000 people alone  watch the illuminated carnival and if they put in just 50p each we would raise more than £20,000.
“This is not a gripe at the council. Of course, we would love to have more money from it but it’s really up to the community to support the carnival. It brings more money into the community than any other event and businesses, which stand to gain the most from it, could definitely be more helpful when it comes to collecting money.
“At the moment, we do not have enough money in the budget for the next two years. I would implore people to put just £1 in our buckets.
“Where else could you get such great entertainment for that amount of money? Ryde Carnival is a fantastic spectacle and a great cultural event. It really is worth saving.”

Posted in Raising Awareness | Print | No Comments »