Should the Basingstoke Carnival return?

10:16am Thursday 2nd August 2012 in Local By Emily Roberts, Chief Reporter

Should the Basingstoke Carnival return? Should the Basingstoke Carnival return?

FOR nearly 60 years, it was a popular feature of local life – and now thousands of people are calling for the return of the Basingstoke Carnival.


Nearly 8,000 people have joined a Facebook group, which has been set up for those who want to see a carnival revival.


The annual event, which featured dozens of floats, came to an end in 1994 – much to the disappointment of its supporters.


But the groundswell of public support, being generated through the Facebook group, has now revived the possibility that the carnival could make a comeback.


See The Gazette for the full story and let us know what you think in the ballot below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments(11)

chrisa123 says...
3:56pm Thu 2 Aug 12

I voted yes - but who is going to pay for it?

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BasingstokeBroadband.co.uk says...
8:30pm Thu 2 Aug 12

YES YES YES!!!!!!! OH PLEASE YES!!!!!

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Manda2 says...
11:12pm Thu 2 Aug 12

Yes would love to see the Basingstoke Carnival return. It used to be a great atmosphere. I remember watching it along the Winchester Road then Worting Road. Eventually just around Timberlake Road as it became smaller. Do not see why it could not not be run the same week as the Basingstoke live.

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terri woodforth says...
11:33pm Thu 2 Aug 12

i think the amount of people and the atmosphere that filled our town when the olympic torch passed through, shows that Basingstoke still has community spirit, i think having the carnival back would remind us all that Basingstoke is a place to be proud of

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adiebb says...
10:20am Fri 3 Aug 12

I't was especially good when water pistols etc. were allowed to be used..............ha
ppy days:-)

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BeatlesGuru says...
1:14pm Sat 4 Aug 12

Carnival week started to diminish when they constructed the Parklands and Deanes buildings also the ring road motorway link. This greatly diminished the size of the War Memorial Park to the extent that it is far too small for the Basingstoke Carnival to be same huge fun it used to be. Besides which the old phrase "you can't reheat an old soufle" comes to mind. I was born and raised in Basingstoke never lived anywhere else and therefore old enough to remember what the War Memorial Park looked like before those council buildings and ringroad were built, when the park had permanent toilets with lovely stone clad lined footpaths leading up to them. I preferred the original wooden aviary which again had a stone clad lined footpath leading to it instead of that ugly monstrousity of an aviary we have now, also the original bandstand instead of that silly mock impression at the Hackwood Road gates. Since they built the Parklands building they moved the gates inward so the war memorial is outside the park so you cannot really call it the War Memorial Park anymore.
So to conclude therefore unless the War Memorial Park can be fully restored to its former glory thus getting rid of Deanes, Parklands and the ringroad restoring the carnival is utterly futile and stupid.
18 years ago the carnival was over and I visited Liverpool for the first time so therefore I don't care about the Carnival in fact I don't care much for my place of birth anymore because the council's planners and developers have completely ruined Basingstoke.
I have fond childhood memories of the paddling pool in the War Memorial Park

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BeatlesGuru says...
4:44pm Sat 4 Aug 12

http://www.youtube.c
om/watch?v=nze8B39OB
0k

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Sam_Walker123456 says...
3:15pm Wed 8 Aug 12

Cheer up BeatlesGuru, just because you are stuck in the past it does not mean everything which has been changed has been changed for the worse.
Let me tell you that 18 years ago you would not have got even a whiff of what Liverpool was like in the 60's, the decade in which you seem to be stuck. But this does not make Liverpool worse than it was - just different. In many ways it is much better now but anything to do with the Beatles era is not real.
To say we cannot have a carnival because the aviary, bandstand, paddling pool, toilets, etc., have all been changed is stupid. A carnival is not about those things but about the attitude of the people taking part. So please feel free to stay away when it returns - we don't want you spoiling the party.

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BeatlesGuru says...
10:33am Thu 9 Aug 12

Sam_Walker123456 wrote:
Cheer up BeatlesGuru, just because you are stuck in the past it does not mean everything which has been changed has been changed for the worse. Let me tell you that 18 years ago you would not have got even a whiff of what Liverpool was like in the 60's, the decade in which you seem to be stuck. But this does not make Liverpool worse than it was - just different. In many ways it is much better now but anything to do with the Beatles era is not real. To say we cannot have a carnival because the aviary, bandstand, paddling pool, toilets, etc., have all been changed is stupid. A carnival is not about those things but about the attitude of the people taking part. So please feel free to stay away when it returns - we don't want you spoiling the party.
My main point is that the greatly dimished size of the park over the years, means a distinct lack of space for the carnival to be anything like it used to be. I have fond memories of when I was about 5 or 6 with my dad and older brother we were dressed as pirates for the RNA social club in a sort of carnival procession, when our legs got tired our dad would put us in this dinghi. That's the RNA social club that used to be behing the Hole in the Wall pub before they moved to their present premises by the pelican crossing and former Webbers site.

When I first visited Liverpool 18 years ago I still felt a great Beatles buzz about the place -for want of a better description. I can assure you from my own experience that in Liverpool even now anything to do with the Beatles era is very much real. Especially with fifty years on from the Beatles' recording contract, their meeting George Martin for the first time, is celebrated with a predominanently Beatles' Mathew Street festival, so therefore if you don't want Beatles' music played live then you can stay away from that festival because I don't want you spoiling the party.

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Sam_Walker123456 says...
4:50pm Thu 9 Aug 12

BeatlesGuru, I grew up in Liverpool in the 60s and I can assure you it is now completely different to what it was then. It was a dirty, bomb damaged, seedy, down-at-heel city which we all loved.
Liverpool has changed, I think for the better, but any remaining reference to the Beatles is manufactured not real. Most of us from that time still love the Beatles and their music and like to hear different interpretations of their songs (but not tribute acts).
You are not alone in getting a buzz when you visit Liverpool, but any Beatles buzz is now manufactured. It is the people of Liverpool who create the buzz not the spirit of the Beatles.
You used to get a buzz at the Basingstoke carnival and when it is restored a new generation will also get a buzz - not from the carnival you remember but from the new one.
Stop trying to recreate the past and live in the present.

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BeatlesGuru says...
9:44am Sat 11 Aug 12

One fact that is important to note with the end of the carnival is falling numbers of attendances. So I would say to all these people wanting the return of the carnival why the hell did they not think of that before, and therefore actually go to it. I've been to those Basingstoke carnivals and wondered where the hell is everyone, even on a Saturday.
One thing that certainly would not work anymore is the carnival procession because there are very little companies around here that have the open trucks for the carnival floats. Furthemore we don't have the works sports & social clubs that we used to have, the only ones I know of that still have such clubs are the AA and ITT Cannon, and even they don't have the old open trucks. So who else is going to spend money hiring such vehicles. So therefore this is all clearly ill thought out and ridiculous pie in the sky.

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