Celebrating village life at Edlesborough Carnival

This year marks the 800th anniversary of the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Eaton Bray, the carnival organisers chose to have Village Life as the theme for the event to mark the milestone.

Gordon Gray, chairman of the Carnival Committee, said: “It was a perfect day, the weather was calm and overcast, as an organiser that is what you want.
“There were thousands of people, as big a crowd as we have ever seen on Edlesborough Green and people seemed to stay longer than normal.

“There were some really good attractions again this year that attracted crowds 5 or 6 deep around the arena, including the Dog Show which attracted a lot of entries and was organised by Vicky Lawes.

“Among other attractions that drew the crowds were a display of rescue dogs by Appledown Dog Rescue, KFPA, Jazzercise, Revelation Majorettes (winners of over 40 trophies at this year’s national awards) and Bezerkaz Circus.

“The procession had fewer floats than usual but still managed to extend to take up most of the length of Eaton Bray High Street.”

The float winners in the schools category were Eaton Bray Academy; the pupils had researched the history of the village and they reflected this in their float. In the young persons category, the 1st Eaton Bray and Edlesborough Scouts were the winners.

In The Best Decorated House competition the winners were 130 High Street in Eaton Bray and 44-46 High Street in Edlesborough and Janes of Edlesborough won the Best Decorated Business.

Gordon added: “There were so many houses that were decorated really well and I really liked the one that had just bunting and it was literally bun tins!” 

The carnival is so successful because of the amount of people who get involved, Gordon added: “We had quite a few people come to Edlesborough Green who have never been before.

“One local man who not been to the Carnival for about 20 years said he was astonished by the sheer size and the excellent organisation of the event.

“Another lady, from Leighton Buzzard, who travels across the country to carnivals and village fayres said St Mary’s Village Carnival is one of the best organised carnivals she had been to!

“Enormous thanks go to the organising team, to all the helpers, to local businesses who support the Carnival and to the local organisations who participate to make the Carnival such a wonderful community event.”  

The money raised on the day will all come back into the local community and will be shared between St Mary’s Church in Eaton Bray, The Wildlife Trust, who support two local projects, College Lake and Totternhoe Knolls and to various local good causes.

> To see more photos from St Mary’s Village Carnival go to: www.leightonbuzzardonline.co.uk/news/people/in-pictures-thousands-of-people-celebrate-village-life-at-edlesborough-carnival-1-8990084.