If you’re anywhere near town at around 11.30am on Saturday 21 September, be prepared for a full-on Marlow Carnival experience!
Cheer on the Parade!
This year’s theme is “Oh I do like to be beside the seaside!“…
From 11am, all Parade walkers (including all school groups) will be gathering at the large green opposite Hall Place vets on Little Marlow Road. Parade vehicles only will gather in Great Marlow School’s car park:
You can click to download the Schools info pack HERE and the Parade guidelines HERE.
The Parade starts at 11:30am. Pick your spot along the route – or join the procession and walk / dance along with them!:
Important: There is no public parking at the meeting spots and the main roads will be closed so families should walk (or scoot / bike) wherever possible. You can of course park in the usual public carparks around town, but they’ll be busy.
ROAD CLOSURE: Parts of Little Marlow Road, Spittal Street and the whole High Street will be closed for a short while between 11am and 12pm. Please don’t ignore blockades and attempt to drive through them, for the safety of everyone in the Parade!
The Party in Higginson Park!
Once the Parade has arrived in Higginson Park, the roads will re-open and the Carnival will be opened with a bang. There are four music and dance stages: ‘Celebrate‘ Music, ‘Liston‘ Dance, ‘Jam‘ Music and the Bus Stop Buskers. The first acts will kick off at around 12:15pm.
The full list of acts is on the Carnival website, and includes local musical rising stars such as bands Silversmith, The Laughing Ants, Halvar and Persephone in the Underworld.
Solo musicians include Harry Connor, Sophie Henderson, Andy Read, Scott McLachlan and Christina Cameron.
Scott McLachlan The Laughing Ants Halvar Christina Cameron Harry Connor Andy Read Sophie Henderson Persephone Silversmith
Headliners are Peerless Pirates, who are bringing their unique “shanty chaos” to the Celebrate stage at 3.50pm!
The dance troupes on the Liston Dance stage are a wonderfully diverse bunch and include Jane Douglass Fitness & Dance, Marlow School of Dance, Phoenix Dance Crew and OBJ Morris Dancers.
OBJ Morris Dancers Phoenix Dance Crew JDFD Marlow School of Dance
If choirs and showtunes are your thing, make sure you catch Blend Choir (Celebrate stage at 12.15pm), Stagecoach (Liston stage at 1.50pm), and Jam Theatre (Jam stage at 2pm and 3.30pm)!
Blend Choir Stagecoach Jam Theatre
Rebellion Brewery are also hosting ClubDjango in their tent throughout the day, and Mr Punch & Judy is performing on the Jam stage at 11.30am, 1.30pm and 3pm.
Food and drink
There are more delicious options than ever this year!
Rebellion Brewery and Marlow Gin will be there if you fancy a tipple, or the Afternoon Tea tent is the place to be if you’d rather go for traditional scones, tea, coffee and cakes.
Phil Bowditch are bringing their popular BBQ, with a hog roast alongside the usual burgers, hot dogs and chicken. Pizza Pals are doing exactly what they say on the tin and offering freshly prepared pizzas, and Chives are expanding their menu to offer vegetarian and gluten-free options alongside their sandwiches and wraps.
All the info on food and drink is on the Carnival website.
Chives Marlow Gin Pizza Pals Phil Bowditch Rebellion
For the kids!
There is going to be loads going on for the children – pony rides are back and will be as popular as ever, and there’ll be go karting and classic cars for the petrol heads.
RepSmiles will be bringing their snakes, lizards and even hedgehogs along for cuddles.
Immortal Fitness are running FREE kids HIIT sessions on the hour every hour.
As for the Kidszone: in line with the “seaside” theme, there will be old school fairground rides and games, facepainting and lots more.
Fairground Pony rides Go karting RepSmiles RepSmiles Mr Punch & Judy
Prizes galore!
The MCA (Marlow Community Association, AKA the Carnival organisers) will be running a raffle and a silent auction out of their tent which will be close to the Resolute Cafe.
This year the silent auction is hosted through Superstars and this means that as well as the fantastic local prizes on offer (Immortal Fitness, Odds Farm, Roald Dahl Museum, Creation Station, Marlow Club etc), there are some other interesting ones (signed 1966 England shirt, Harrods wine tasting, a box at Ascot etc). You can bid online right now!
Raffle prizes include a family weekend in Brighton including a night at the Grand Hotel, tickets for the Sealife Centre, the BA i360 wheel and dinner at The Brighton Beach Club – all one prize! Also Rush trampolining, vouchers for Sweaty Betty, Suum Vietnamese Kitchen, Zacs Gym, The Flower Studio, and lots more… Worth taking a look: www.marlowcarnival.com/raffle-silent-auction
Lastly, make sure you get your hands on a Carnival programme, go to the penultimate page and complete the Treasure Hunt: spot a beachball on any stall, get a sticker from the stallholder in your programme, take your completed “passport” to the MCA tent and collect a prize!
Poets get scribing and bakers get baking!
JUNIOR BAKE OFF
The Junior Bake Off competition is easy to enter and should be great fun on the day.
TO ENTER: Just complete the ONLINE ENTRY FORM, bring your “seaside” themed cake or biscuits to the Junior Bake Off tent BEFORE 12pm on the day, and then go to the Celebrate stage for the 4pm judging and prize-giving. The two age groups are 4-7 years and 8-14 years.
POETRY COMPETITION
There’s also a Poetry Competition, in partnership with The Marlow Bookshop, which has three age categories: 4-7, 8-11 and 12+. Again the theme is “I do like to be beside the seaside!“, and the prizes are brilliant! Not only do winners have the chance to perform their poem on stage (or have someone perform on their behalf if they prefer), but every entrant will also have their poem PUBLISHED in a book and they will receive a copy!
TO ENTER: Poems should be written or typed on A4 paper and delivered to The Marlow Bookshop on Spittal Street BY WEDNESDAY 11 SEPTEMBER.
Make sure you visit both the Poetry Tent and the Junior Bake Off Tent on Carnival day, they’ll be adjacent to the Celebrate stage!
Roll up, roll up – stallholders!
There’s a really good mix of stallholders who will be pitched up along the main path through the park. Local and national charities, arts and crafters selling their wares, local produce, schools, clubs and societies. From the army to interior designers, books and bird boxes to fudge and skincare, there’ll be plenty to browse. The full list of stallholders is HERE.
MyMarlow verdict: Marlow Carnival 2019 looks like it’s going to be a great one! Plenty to amuse and entertain the whole family – from dads who want to rock out to toddlers who like cuddling reptiles… we’ll see you there!
For up to date Marlow events take a look at our Events Calendar, and last year’s Carnival gallery and write up too!
We’ll be publishing a gallery after the event – if you take some good photos please send them to us on FB messenger or by email to kelly@mymarlow.co.uk!
