A float at last year's Winter Carnival
Wokingham prepares for the Winter Carnival
By Victoria CorbettNovember 24, 2009
Every year festive cheer takes over the town as the Winter Carnival is held, including the ever-popular procession that rounds off the day.
Victoria Corbett finds out what festive treats are in store.
Wokingham will be taken over by superheroes, villains and other comic book characters on Sunday.
If previous years’ processions are anything to go by, this theme will spark costumes and float designs to make the Carnival crowd laugh, gasp and applaud.
But, while the procession takes just 30 minutes to snake through the streets from Wokingham Borough Council’s Shute End car park to Market Place, the costume and float designs are many weeks in the making.
Scouts, guides, morris dancing troupes and sporting clubs have been hard at work planning how they will wow the crowds and pick up the prize for best dressed on the day.
One group planning to bring a touch of sparkle to the procession is Wokingham Hockey Club, which enjoyed its first-ever Carnival parade so much last year members decided they had to sign up again.
Natalie Slater, club spokeswoman, says: “We are very excited to be involved and hope to see the town full of people like it was last year.
“The Carnival is great for bringing together a variety of clubs and associations within Wokingham and is good fun.
“If anyone sees us as part of the parade, give us a shout and come and say hello.”
The 1st Finchampstead Scouts have been taking part in the procession for several years and are expanding their part in the procession by hopefully having three floats.
Families of the Beavers, Cubs and Scouts also get involved with making costumes and each of the three groups will be taking on their own theme based on comic and cartoon characters.
These could include The Snowman, Toy Story and superheroes.
Isabelle Kent, group secretary of 1st Finchampstead Scouts, says the planning for the procession was “very hectic”.
“We want three lorries because we have six sections running,” she says. “By splitting the Beavers, Cubs and Scouts into three groups they can plan what they want to do each.
“The children really enjoy it.”
Steph Gould is the assistant district commissioner for Wokingham Scouts and has the tough job of getting every group organised in the council car park to make sure the procession is in the correct order.
She said: “Getting them in order can be quite tricky. It’s a big juggling act.
“The children love it and people go to such lengths to decorate their floats.”
The procession is made possible by the hard work and generosity of volunteers, from the firms which donate lorries to the people arranging the logistics of the parade.
Gwynneth Hewetson, from the Carnival committee, said: “I think there is so much interest this year, we could almost fill as many lorries as we could get hold of.”
Mrs Hewetson said Carnival revellers can expect some colourful surprises in the procession.
The procession leaves the car park at 4pm. Spectators can watch from various points in the town, but Peach Street and Market Place are good vantage points.
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