Topic ID 7240
Apparently there was a carnival in Hertford today. Apparently it was well represented by local organisations. Apparently the local Rotary worked their danglies off organising and running it. I believe it was attended by many. Well done to everyone involved.
Reply ID 94376
Apparently there's something the matter?
Reply ID 94390
Not sure if Ewoowar has an issue or not but yes there was a carnival. Bury Rangers had one of the few floats taking part in the procession - which also seemed to have a large number of random mini cars with adverts amongst it. There were also some other noteable floats, eg scouts, but not many. The fun fair and stalls at Hartham were interesting and well supported so that was the best bit for me. [:)]
Reply ID 94393
Perhaps like me he is wondering why the Link magazine has listed the Bishops Stortford carnival in the "whats on" section but no mention of the County towns carnival?
Reply ID 94394
I enjoyed my first visit to the Hertford Carnival. My only disappointment was that I couldn't find the McMullens beer tent anywhere.
Reply ID 94399
My original comment was because I spoke to many in Hertford who had not heard that their town had a carnival. So perhaps publicity could be better. Yes, Newgirl, Bury Rangers put a lot of effort into a great float and also ran a large stand on Hartham Common. There were several other local organisations too.
Reply ID 94402
quote:There were signs all over the town centre in the fortnight up to the carnival. The fact that the streets were lined with spectators during the procession suggests that many had seen those signs. In know quite a few people who seemingly walk around with their eyes closed. I don't think any amount of publicity would change that.
Originally posted by Ewoowar
My original comment was because I spoke to many in Hertford who had not heard that their town had a carnival. So perhaps publicity could be better. Yes, Newgirl, Bury Rangers put a lot of effort into a great float and also ran a large stand on Hartham Common. There were several other local organisations too.
Reply ID 94403
I think the great disappointment was that after such a huge and colourful turn out last year there seemed to be much fewer entries this year. I would have expected the opposite - events usually get bigger as years go by. I don't know where the problem lies. Last year was under the umbrella of the Town Council whereas this year was Rotary. Having been at the sharp end of these type of events I have nothing but praise, admiration and thanks for those who volunteer to organise community events. No one but those who have done it realise how much effort goes into providing six hours entertainment. The time and effort put in by the committee is quite out of proportion to the time the event will last. I apologise for going back but when I ran Fun Days from 2001 to 2005 we had a large committee consisting of representatives from all the major organisations. One of the major contributors was the Mercury whose support in terms of free editorial, ads for volunteers etc, pull out colour supplements, posters, banners etc was immense. I think the distribution has declined and obviously their input has declined along with it and I have no knowledge of how deep they are now involved. Ditto as it was called then Hertbeat fm who gave plenty of free plugs on air and we hired the stages from them and bought an excellent package of promotion including the presenters on the day. If you cannot get enough advertising then no one is going to know. But it costs! All the above helps to promote the event. I have been a victim of Highways clamp down on banners, flyers and other advertising schemes. Even if you were able to put these up they cost money. The last Fun Day (2005) had a spend of £5000+ and funded from the old Hertford Town Centre Management Board, Hertford Town Council, Waitrose, the Stonehouse and contributions in kind from Isobel Hospice, the Mercury, McMullens and other traders in town such as Specsavers who ran the Face of Hertford competition. All money on the day that was collected in buckets, from stalls etc was split between two charities, Isobel Hospice and the Mayors Charity. This should be a community event. But there is no getting together of like minds. As I said in another post, I am not too sure if there is a will any more. All sorts of clubs and societies are suffering from lack of members; existing ones are getting old and there is no new blood. I hear that the British Legion may not be able to get volunteers to collect for this years Poppy Appeal through illness, retirement and age. Time perhaps for a younger generation to get off their collective backsides.
Reply ID 94404
quote:I suspect you're talking about the procession. On Hartham Common there were EIGHTY stalls operated by a variety of local organisations and businesses. This is a lot more than last year I believe. http://www.hertfordcarnival.org.uk
Originally posted by sloopjohnb
I think the great disappointment was that after such a huge and colourful turn out last year there seemed to be much fewer entries this year.
Reply ID 94405
Also, articles in The Mercury: [url="http://www.hertfordshiremercury.co.uk/Hertfordshire/Alice-is-named-Hertford-Carnival-princess-20130528122247.htm"]Alice Is Named Hertford Carnival Proncess[/url] [url="http://www.hertfordshiremercury.co.uk/Hertfordshire/Alice-is-named-Hertford-Carnival-princess-20130528122247.htm"]Alice Chance To Sign Up For Hertford Carnival[/url] [url="http://www.hertfordshiremercury.co.uk/Hertfordshire/Alice-is-named-Hertford-Carnival-princess-20130528122247.htm"]Alice Needed For 2013 Hertford Carnoval[/url] Set To Perform To The Masses At Hertford Carnival (This was published on 21st June but The Mercury have removed it for some reason, although you can still find Google's archive copy)
Reply ID 94406
Unfortunately Steve and I think this is where Ewoowar was coming from is that a Carnival suggests a procession of floats with music and dancing in the middle of a fun atmosphere. Not a collection of stalls. That is a village fete. I saw your photographs and in some places there was no crowds at all. As for the fair. I've heard from a variety of sources that the rides were mysteriously increased overnight to £2.50 on Sunday. I have some bad experiences of this and why no more fairs on Fun Days run by me. As for the Mercury reports, that's hardly a big splash and I also noticed that the last post had been removed. The point I was trying to make is that 'fings aren't what they used to be'. I would like to see more than one organisation get together and produce an event of which Hertford could be proud. Ware do it and have a month of celebration. We do it piecemeal. Don't you feel that this sense of co-operation and community should be possible here.
Reply ID 94407
sloopjohnb I could not agree with you more. People seem to be more concerned with point scoring and out doing one another. Hertford needs leadership there must be plenty who would get involved if they thought their efforts would be appreciated.
Reply ID 94408
quote:Those people you know who walk around with their eyes closed, I don't think they are the same as the ones I spoke to. Those I spoke to do not regularly bump into walls or trip over obvious obstacles as they have their eyes open. Walking around with your eyes closed is foolish, surely. Please take time to advise those people you know as to the folly of their actions. Aside from this...... I am active locally but the only reason I knew of the carnival is because I am linked to an organisation that had a float and a stand. My son goes to a Hertford school but did not know of the carnival until I told him about it. Likewise my wife who also works in Hertford. Now, my wife drives a car and if she did so with her eyes closed I am sure you would read about the repercussions in the Mercury. My son is a goalkeeper and if he kept his eyes closed he would not be so heavily sought after. Yet they were not aware of the carnival. The fact that you were aware of the carnival does not state mean that everyone else should have been so too. I understand the procession was well received on the streets. I also understand the event on Hartham Common was well run by the Rotary. I also understand the fair cut their own throats by jacking up the prices in order to rip as much cash out of the event and the people of Hertford as possible. The fair left a bitter taste. As I heard one lad say...it was a "rip off".
Originally posted by Stevequote:There were signs all over the town centre in the fortnight up to the carnival. The fact that the streets were lined with spectators during the procession suggests that many had seen those signs. In know quite a few people who seemingly walk around with their eyes closed. I don't think any amount of publicity would change that.
Originally posted by Ewoowar
My original comment was because I spoke to many in Hertford who had not heard that their town had a carnival. So perhaps publicity could be better. Yes, Newgirl, Bury Rangers put a lot of effort into a great float and also ran a large stand on Hartham Common. There were several other local organisations too.
Reply ID 94409
I think the carnival is a great idea. I was joyed by the sight of so many local organisations joining in. Hartham Common was good to see full of stands. Done well, as it was this year, it can only grow stronger. I commend those who put the effort it.
Reply ID 94410
FWIW I know one organisation who were interested in taking part in the procession but the lorry's insurer had issues (the nature of the organisation meant a lorry was the only real way of representing their offering).
Reply ID 94411
I first became was aware of something happening by seeing the fair-rides setting up on Hartham. I didn't know there was a town carnival until the morning of the event. I count myself as a man-about-town, at least, I walk through the town almost daily. Eyes closed perhaps, but I saw nothing to advertise the event. I don't buy the Mercury anymore, I get most of news via social media. I consider myself well up to date on international, national and local events. I get a heads-up on all manner of obscure and niche local activities, but again nothing alerted me to the carnival. It Twitter can be used to organise the Arab Spring, I think it might have something to offer Hertford Carnival. I'm not planning to orchestrate any popular uprisings next year, so if the organisers need a help from me then get in touch. I'll be happy to help.
Reply ID 94412
Please welcome our newest member: michael@hertfordcarnival. Perhaps Michael will be along shortly to offer some assistance.
Reply ID 94413
Hertford carnival were tweeting about the event and so were many others. Obviously you have to follow twitter to be aware of this.
Reply ID 94415
The carnival was also the top story on Discover Hertford Online's home page for ten days before the event.
quote:It certainly might ... https://twitter.com/HertCarnival A number of Hertford organisations were also retweeting the carnival's tweets, such as Transition Hertford ... https://twitter.com/HertCarnival You might want to consider following both of these [:)]
Originally posted by Enoughofthat
It Twitter can be used to organise the Arab Spring, I think it might have something to offer Hertford Carnival.
Reply ID 94417
Clearly I'm not the man I thought I was and I must be one of those who walks around with eyes closed. I even follow Transition Hertford. I doubt Hertford Carnival will be requiring my IT skills now.
Reply ID 94421
I first became aware of it well over a week ago because of the ads all over town.
Reply ID 94440
Hello Everybody, We had 29 segments in the parade - one less than last year. We also had 78 stall bookings - a great level of interest and could have had a mini music festival with the level of interest we had to play in the performance arena. We had a huge level of interest in the classic cars which thanks to Sainburys we were able to hold in their car park - again we could have doubled the number of cars. As for the classic motor bikes - it was not possible to deal with the huge interest we had in displaying the range of classic bikes. Overall it is was estimated that 3,000 watched the parade through the town and some 5,000 came to Hartham. The financial and economic benefit to the town is not known but it is hoped that the carnival has had a positive effect of benefit to all who live, work and come to visit the County Town of Hertfordshire. As important were the great smiles on so many peoples face and the great sense of fun and humour among all those who took part in the many elements of the Carnival
Reply ID 94441
Yes absolutely fantastic support and interest in the twitter account and the hertford.net page so very much appreciated
Reply ID 94443
Welcome to the forum Michael :)
Reply ID 94445
Michael, I hope I didn't sound too dismissive of the Carnival. As I said I've been there and have nothing but praise and respect for people like yourself. It just seemed and a lot of people have mentioned this to me and Mrs Sloop that there didn't appear to be as many entrants as last year. I accept your figures of course. As for the vintage cars I spent quite a bit of Sunday morning chatting to the owner of a Triumph Vitesse 2 Litre about our misspent youth driving one of these and burning up the opposition. I will not put my comments on fairs on to a public forum. As for the financial and economic benefit to the town - this has always been an unknown quantity. A lot of traders will not open on such days as yours. I have been given a number of excuses - dirty and sticky fingers on stock, staff shortages, strange and competing stalls outside and close by. I used to counter this by stating that if I and others were knocking our whatsits into kingdom come to drag in 10000+_ visitors then the least they could do was open and not complain about the lack of trade. I did notice that after the last of the procession went through the town quickly emptied and there was little left to enjoy. I am sure the pubs, bars and restaurants did quite well as they always do on these occasions but the night time economy is not actually in serious decline at the moment. I agree that most of the people then went to the QE11 fields. This brought back memories of the old County Days which were the victim of two dreadful rain soaked years. I mentioned something to Cll Sartin (then Mayor) last year that having successfully run the Carnival it might be the time to re-introduce asimilar event in the town centre. If you and Rotary are now equally successful in getting people into the town then there is a basis for putting something in the middle of town to capitalise on this. I am happy to make a public offer. If any one out there or group wants to re-introduce the spirit of Fun Day to wrap around the Carnival I am willing to give you my time for free subject to the following. I ran 5 Fun Days, one Continental Market, one Music Festival, Farmers Markets and Christmas Lights so I know a lot about the logistics of running an event in the town centre. I am happy to spend an hour or two passing this experience on at a special price - the cost of as many pints as it takes before you run out of questions or I run out of words, whichever comes first, at a suitable venue of my choice. But my input starts and stops there. I've done my bit - I wish to enjoy a stress free retirement. And if anyone wants to know why there was only one Continental Market and why Medieval Night was cancelled the same offer applies; but it might take a lot longer to explain.
Reply ID 94451
I'm surprised if anyone who regularly walks through the town missed the posters advertising the carnival. Admittedly they were only A4 sized but they were prominent and plentiful. I think Rotary did a good promotion job there. I have missed so many town events because the town council don't publicise. I have taken them to task about this but............. Back on topic, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of stalls on the common and of course, the floats.