CARNIVAL fever is in the air as the final preparations are underway for the town’s biggest event of the year.

Andover Carnival is set for Sunday, starting at noon and going into the evening until 9pm, packed out with stalls, live music, bar and food court, funfair and the carnival procession.

The committee pulled out all the stops to save the event from cancellation, as a shortage in funding saw the family fun day under threat earlier this year.

Andover Carnival committee chair Larna Burley said: “We’re over the moon for all the support we have received, there is going to be lots of floats, entertainment and stalls in the park this year.

“There’s been some very successful fundraising and more companies coming on board. The feedback has been positive people are looking forward to it.

“We are looking forward to lots of the public to join in the carnival fun and to help support our chosen charities.”

The festival day is still receiving applications for stalls for Vigo Park, and it has seen more entries for walking groups for the procession than seen before.

The carnival procession is set to begin at 4pm starting at Weyhill Road towards Western Avenue, down to Bridge Street, to Eastern Avenue before reaching Vigo Park.

An estimated 275 people will be parading in the traditional carnival trail, with around 11 lorries and a mix of tractors, minis some classic TV cars and a double decker bus.

This year the carnival is supporting Icknield School and Andover MS Society as its chosen charities, with money going towards buying a new standing frame for Icknield students who are unable to walk, and to fund sessions and equipment for sufferers of MS. Revellers are being encouraged to ‘dig deep’ to help the causes.

Brochures for the day are also available at various town centre venues including the Travelling Cupcake, Wimpy and Butters.

For more information about the day’s events, turn to pages 28 and 29 and go to andovercarnival.org.

See next week’s Advertiser for four pages of coverage.