A short history of Par Carnival

Prior to the commencement of the second world war carnivals were organised in Par and were held on the August Bank Holiday each year. The Bank holiday in Par consisted ofa regatta in the morning held in Par Harbour, Children's sports in the afternoon on Mr. Jack Couch's field (which is now Snowlands Holiday
Park). and the Carnival in the evening. I am told from a reliable source that extra trains ran from Plymouth to Par to bring hundreds of spectators to the events.

After the war the bank holiday regatta and children's sports were restarted and a committee was formed to organise the events. Mr. John Lydiatt (deceased) and Mrs. Lydiatt (now in her 92nd.year) reformed the carnival which was organised for raising funds for the St.John Ambulance Brigade.

A)This continued until 1958 when it became difficult to get people to help. By this time the Par sports track was built and the sports were held there, one special feature were the cycle races.

The sports however became more professional and were then organised by the AAA organisation and eventually the Sports Committee disbanded, with the failure to attract people to help the Carnival ceased.

In 1963 Peggy and Russell Julian were raising funds to build a new Sunday School alongside Par St Mary's Methodist Church and decided to organise a Fancy Dress Parade around the Church Car park to raise funds. This was so successful that the next year l963 on the 3rd Saturday in July that they organised a Carnival and paraded around the village led by St.Blazey Silver Band. From then onwards the Carnival became larger and St Austell Band was engaged with the St Blazey Band. ln 1964 it was decided to make it a full day event by holding a fete in the afternoon and and the carnival in the evening.This was extremely popular and raised many thousands of pounds which was shared between the Church and the St John Ambulance and various local charities.

The organising committee now consisted of Church and Ambulance members and members of the public.Eventually the carnival consisted each year of five or six bands, Beautifully decorated floats for the fairy and carnival queen on wagons drawn by superbly decorated horses loaned by the Company E.C.L.P.& Co. and large floats entered by the youth organisations of the area were a great attraction. A spectacle of the carnival at that time was the introduction of Majorette groups and a special competition was held each year for the Westcountry Majorette Championship (sponsored by Westcountry TV).

ln 1990 due to various circumstances the Par Scout Group undere the leadership of Alan and Sally tregaskes stepped in an organised the events for two years before being taken back by a newly formed committee.Many Carnivals lost their popularity because of high costs of insurance and many regulations being imposed from various authorities. Following a fatal accident at a Carnival held in North Cornwall regulations for Carnivals came into force, the main penalty being that very high insurance rates were applied which stopped people from entering carnival floats, Vehicles needed a M O T certificate even on trailers etc and then more recently Carnivals and Fetes come under regulations from HSE with stringent risk assessments having to be carried out to meet local authority regulations. Again many villages and towns stopped organising such events but the Par Carnival Committee has continued every year since 1963 to hold its annual fete and carnivaL Over the years many thousands of pounds has been raised for local charities. We have a very strong and hard working committee and after the difficult period from l99I to 1998 the event has grown again to be one ofthe largest and best events in the county.