Feast was not the best

As I sat reading Jim Chambers comments regarding the Houghton feast carnival parade (greatest show on earth), I couldn’t help but wonder just what he had been taking or drinking.

He definitely wasn’t at the same carnival I had been unfortunate to witness.

As a life long resident of the town, and a religious attendee of many a feast parade, I can say in all honesty this year’s was one of the worst I have ever witnessed.

Ask any long term Houghton citizen (I know because I have) and they will tell you the once colourful all singing, all dancing, totally entertaining extravaganza of yesteryear is all but dead to anyone who was fortunate enough to have been part of the great parades of the not so distant past.

Where were the many floats that used to take part? All gone because of the council’s silly over zealous rules of health and safety. Where were the many steam engines with their noise and great plumes of black smoke rising into the air, the procession of beautiful classic cars, the huge colourful fairground organ with its loud jaunty tunes beckoning everyone to the show ground?

All replaced by a procession of modern Fiat Unos and a couple of dozen noisy motor bikes.

In my opinion Houghton feast has been declining year upon year, and the way it’s going I can’t see it being long before it ceases to exist unless drastic action is taken by the feast organisers. M McArdle