25/08/2010 by admin.

The foul weather we’re currently having, has caused the cancellation of Sandown Illuminated Carnival tonight 25th August 2010.

What bad luck this is the second year in a row that this has happened. Please remember to keep hold of your costumes so that you can support our friends at Sandown Carnival Committee at their 5th November celebration which will now included the carnival procession.

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24/08/2010 by admin.

Our web admin and photographer have been busy working behind the scenes to get our photograph albums online. The latest include our visit to Sandown Main Carnival on 28th July 2010, Ryde Children’s Carnival 20th August 2010 and Ryde Main Carnival 21st August 2010.

Although the weather wasn’t particularly good on Friday for the Children’s parade the rain held off until all the entries had arrived at the finish in Quay Road.  The procession was well supported.

The Main Carnival on Saturday was hit by the bad weather and it started to rain as everyone was setting up , this didn’t stop the crowds supporting what was a wonderful evening.

The Carnival Learning Centre’s Europa project was brought to life by the Blue Touch Paper Carnival Group a local group of disabled people who were cheered as they walked along the route.

We had a number of Marching bands join us from the island, but we welcomed the Essex Marching band from Southend On Sea who brought their flag bearers who performed some spectacular flag spinning. All the major towns and villages arrived with their beautiful queen’s floats and the girls used their clear umbrellas to protect their dresses from the rain. The Ryde Carnival Float resplendent with  a glob, the Santa Maria atop and beautiful fans was complimented by our beautiful dancers.

There was a wide variety of pedestrian entries who depicted everything from Toy Story to Viking Long boats . The Carnival ended with a spectacular display from Mas Fusion Community Carnival Group who performed their “Flights of Fancy” to great roars of praise and clapping from the crowd, and finally the tail end float arrived with it’s child chimney sweep popping his head out of the top.

Ryde Carnival Association again were pleased to support local groups with our Small Grants scheme, the groups helped this year included Wight Strollers with their Bad Habits Float, Binstead Community Association and their very funny take on the Wizard of OZ, P.J’s Theater School who went GA-GA, The Downer Family with their wonderful Top Hat and Frills, the costumes of this group were yards of hand sewn plastic bags into beautiful dresses! Oakfield Primary School and their Passage to India, the Baxter Massive with their Birds of Paradise, Dover Park Primary School with their Creative Journey and finally an individual Queen Costume designed by Penny Verity which accompanied the Ryde Float.

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21/07/2010 by admin.

The Arts festival parade was held at the beginning of July this year and proved to be a spectaclar success.

The Parade started later than previous years as a test run for the event in 2011, when the parade starts the Island Games which are being hosted on the island, starting on 26th June and finishing on the 1st of July 2011.

For the first time in many years since Ryde Carnival association had stopped using the Simeon Street Recreation ground as a start point the various groups from both the island and mainland set up their tableaux’s in bright sun shine with a slight breeze. The Parade kicked off at 6pm with Raw Samba heading the parade along a packed Esplanade. The performers put on a fabulous show that delighted and entertained all ages.

With cheers and clapping from the crowds, it made the performers keep up their endless performing, which wound it’s way around the town, and then finishing back at Simeon Street Recreation Ground. It was wonderful to hear the comments from many of the audience who said that the parade was one of the best that they had seen in many a year.

A big thanks should go to all the performers, their artistic directors and the Carnival Learning Centre for putting on such a well organised carnival. I’m sure that we alll can’t wait for the Parade next year which should be one of the biggest the island has ever seen.

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13/02/2010 by admin.

There are serious concerns about Government’s decision to repeal exemptions set out in the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, which mean charitable groups and other not-for-profit organisations are not required to obtain a music licence from PPL (Phonographic Performance LTD) and  the Performing Rights Society (PRS) if they wish to play recorded music

The Government’s own figures suggest this change will cost voluntary and community organisations up to £20 million more a year. This is an incredible amount of money, which can only be met by funds earmarked for charitable purposes.

This is also likely to affect a broad array of community organisations: village halls, churches, care homes, charity shops, youth clubs, carnival groups and carnival associations, scouts and guides associations and bingo halls.

This is another stelth tax that has crept up, it is really important that as many people sign the petition asking the government to recondsider this as the implications are very serious for community groups right across the board.

The bigest effect these new regulations will have is on the running of the Ryde Arts Festival and its’ parade, Ryde Regatta, and the 3 Ryde Carnivals as well as the many church fetes that are held in the Ryde area. The costs of the licences could put a halt to these wonderful free public entertainments, which could have a knock on effect on the economics of our town.

You can sign the petition online here:
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/dontstopthemusic/

You can also join the FaceBook group here
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=274770375866

You can read more information about the new regulations here:
http://www.ppluk.com/en/News–Events/Archived-News/PPL-and-PRS-for-Music-announce-joint-licensing-scheme/

http://www.ppluk.com/en/Music-Users/Information-for-Charities/

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14/08/2009 by admin.

This August Bank Holiday (30/31 August) thousands of people will take to the streets of London for the multi-cultural Notting Hill Carnival, the second largest street festival in the world after Rio.  But meanwhile, the UK’s oldest carnival parade whose rich history can be traced back to Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee of 1887, will take place in the delightful seaside town of Ryde on the Isle of Wight (19/22 August and 5 September).

Throughout the summer, Islanders stage over a dozen carnivals culminating in the last carnival of the season at the end of the summer holidays - the ultimate carnival at Ryde.   A fantastic spectacle featuring over 2000 performers and dozens of colourful floats with musical influences from Rio Samba, Trinidad Street Pan as well as local Isle of Wight musicians, the event is held over 3 days giving visitors plenty of opportunity to party as they watch the parades make their dazzling journey through the town and along the seafront.

Ryde Carnival is reputed to be the oldest established carnival is England. The first true event was held in 1888 but the real origins extend a year further back to Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee of 1887.    These days, while still maintaining a distinct Island character, the flamboyantly dressed dancers, creative carnival floats and giant costumed characters are more akin to Rio than Ryde.

There are three parades to choose from but the Illuminated Carnival is the most spectacular:

Children’s Carnival - Wednesday 19 August
Main Carnival – Saturday 22 August
Illuminated Carnival - Saturday 5 September

For start times and procession routes please visit www.rydecarnival.co.uk

In recent years, the Isle of Wight has developed strong ties with Notting Hill Carnival with many of the organisers visiting after the Bank Holiday either to spectate or take part in Ryde Carnival bringing their vibrancy and colour to an Island reminiscent of Notting Hill’s Caribbean carnival roots.

The Isle of Wight is extremely proud of its carnival heritage and was the first county in the UK to set up a Carnival Learning Centre dedicated to enhance Ryde and other Isle of Wight carnivals by bringing a distinctive new flavour to the existing carnival traditions.

Creative courses at the Isle of Wight Council-managed centre include learning how to make the flamboyant costumes, masks and headgear for the huge floats and parades.  Visitors can get involved in a wide range of one-off taster sessions and weekend workshops. Check the website www.thecarnivallearningcentre.org for latest information and prices.

It’s simple to get to the Isle of Wight, there are up to 350 ferry crossings a day from Portsmouth, Southampton, Lymington and Southsea.  Once you’re there it’s easy to get around, ferry routes connect directly with the Island’s road, rail and coach links.

For details on how to get to the Isle of Wight, where to stay and what to see and do,  visit www.islandbreaks.co.uk or telephone 01983 813813.

This article has been kindly supplied by Isle of Wight Council’s Tourism Division

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18/07/2009 by admin.

The Ryde Social Heritage Group has kindly agreed to allow Ryde Carnival Association to use their newsletter Volume 3, Number 4, October 2008 headed Ryde Carnival - The Origins.

The Ryde Social Heritage group have a much larger archive of the Ryde Carnival which is available to view during their Heritage Open Days. To read more fascinating history about Ryde or become a member of the group please visit www.rshg.org.uk Some additional text has been taken from our original history page and added, we will also be adding some historically interesting photographs.

Ryde Carnival Association is grateful to the RSHG for their support of the carnival website.

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09/02/2009 by admin.

After a marathon months’ work on the Ryde Carnival Website, it has now been uploaded. You will notice that the colours and style are very different from previous years. The new design has been produced to reflect this years costumes colours which are black and red. We will be publishing more about this in the next month or so.

We have also managed at long last to get the Ryde Illuminated Carnival Photographs into an album, sorry for the delay, but well worth the wait. At the moment we are going over all the photographs that have been on the site since 2002 and will be producing a small set of albums for the years 2002 - 2007 these will have what we consider to be the best photographs from those years, this is to help with space on the server and make the site mangement easier for our site manager who spends 100’s of hours on the site over the year.

The site has been parred down so that it is easier for navigation and will also work on any browser, and older versions of internet explorer 5 and 6 for those who still use those systems. The site has been also tested on the new Eee PC mini laptop devices as well as mobile telephones and the iPhone/Google Phone.

We also check this site for use by users who are colour blind for all of the following defects:-
Deutanopia - red/green color blindness; no green cones
Tritanopia - blue/yellow color blindness; no blue cones
Grayscale/Achromatopsia - quick check for all forms of colorblindness
Atypical Achromatopsia -low cone function; cone monochromat
Protanomaly - anomalous red cones
Deutanomaly - anomalous green cones
Tritanomaly - anomalous blue cones

As well as the following coverage tests:-
coverage test in black - highlight filter limitations
coverage test in white - highlight filter limitations
coverage test in gray - highlight filter limitations

There are still the usual downloads available through out the website from Risk assessment spreadsheets to our Route Map that was redesigned last year. Please keep checking back for changes and updates. If you have any questions about the site or want to make a comment please let us know via our e-mail info@rydecarnival.co.uk

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09/02/2009 by admin.

Ryde Carnival Association are holding a 80s & 90s Night to raise funds towards the running of this years carnival.
It will be held at
Ryde Castle Hotel
on Saturday 11th April 2009
from 7.30pm - 12.00 Midnight
Tickets are £5.00 each and can be purchased from various venues in Ryde, including The Bagel Wrap and Fired Art.
Fancy Dress is optional
There will be a fund raising raffle with a variety of prizes.
All are welcome from the very young to the young at heart.

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09/02/2009 by admin.

Ryde Carnival Association 2009 Selection Evening will take place on
Friday 3rd April 2009 from 7.00pm - 9.00pm
at the Carnival Learning Centre, Westridge Ryde.

If you are interested in becoming a performer for this years carnival we are looking for young women and men  aged from 12 to 21 years.
All are welcome to join us either on our float or our band of followers.

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19/01/2009 by admin.

Ryde Carnival are pleased to announce the dates for the Ryde Carnivals:

CHILDRENS’ CARNIVAL WEDNESDAY 19TH AUGUST 2009
MAIN CARNIVAL SATURDAY 22ND AUGUST 2009
ILLUMINATED CARNIVAL SATURDAY 5TH SEPTEMBER 2009

Unlike previous year the carniavl dates for Ryde do not run during the last week of the Summer holidays, we have made these changes to work with the new school holidays, so that the carnivals can be enjoyed by everyone locally or visiting.

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