Carnival special
Six-page picture special from the fabulous Barwell Carnival
Six pages of pictures inside
THE WEATHER may have been inclement but the smiles were definitely sunny as Barwell celebrated a milestone event.
This weekend saw the 70th consecutive carnival parade for the village with a host of floats and walkers taking to the streets.
Crowds cheered, waved flags and, most importantly, donated coins as the procession weaved its way through the heart of the village.
Following the parade the arena events on the Academy field kept families entertained with displays from Vital Marshall Arts, Beatz dancers, Earl Shilton Dance Studio and TKT Cheerleaders.
This year it was up to Mayor of Hinckley and Bosworth Councillor Richard Allen to help the judging panel pick out the best floats and walkers.
In the youth category 1st place went to AFC Barwell with 2nd place being taken by the scouts.
In the trade and special category 1st place went to Beatz, in 2nd place was Roxies Dog Rescue and coming 3rd were the TKT Cheerleaders.
For the pubs and clubs section, 1st place was awarded to Barwell Sportsbar, 2nd place to the Constitutional Club and 3rd place to The Cross Keys.
The winners of two special awards were The Cross Keys which took the George Warner Trophy and the Barry Peace cup went to the Earl Shilton Dance Studio.
Leading the procession through the village were the royal family, consisting of Carnival Queen Holly Neale, princesses Sadie Gamble, Ruby Adkins, Faith Browning-Williams and Kacey Lucas Biggs and princes Rylee GeorgeMarshall and Corey Bartlett.
The mayor and his companion travelled around with the procession and were shown around the field by the president of Barwell Carnival Association, Gail Smith.
The day’s activities even made it onto BBC’s East Midlands Today.
Barwell Carnival Association chairman Mathew Hulbert said: “We’d like to thank everyone who made our big 70th year celebration so special. If you’d like to help with the organising of next year’s carnival, please do get in contact. We’d really appreciate any help you can provide.”