Ramsgate Town Carnival 100th Anniversary

This has been a very busy year with the Coronation of King Charles III, but Ramsgate Town Carnival Committee is getting the 100th Carnival under way for 2023.

As mentioned before in my articles, the earliest proof we have of the Ramsgate Carnival is on a trophy that was presented in 1923. The inscription reads: “2nd Prize, Class 1 Tableau Cars, Ramsgate Carnival 1923”. The trophy is very battered and worn but it is the only item we have with an early date as proof that the Carnival took place. So, it has been decided that this year should be our 100th Anniversary, our “Centenary Celebrations”. We want to make the Carnival bigger and better than last year.

The 2022 Carnival was a great success with more bands and entries than we have had for years. This year the Committee has a new Chair, Teresa Askew, from Great British Carnival. Teresa is best known for her work in the town running workshops enabling adults and children to make some of the superb costumes and props for the walking parades that take in Ramsgate such as the “St George’s Day Parade”; “the Coronation Parade” and the Lantern Parade every December.

Teresa was involved with the Carnival last year but more as an observer/ trainee for the Chair’s role, but this year she has taken the reins along with her small Committee who have been working very hard to put on another good Carnival for the town.

Roger and Marion Pearce have finally stood down from organising the Carnival. They started organising the Carnival in 1990 when Roger was asked if he could tow the Queen’s Float, and over the years they have held almost every position on the Committee ending in 2008 when Roger was Chair and Marion Court Manager. They retired because of family reasons. In 2012, the Carnival Committee did not want to keep Miss Ramsgate under their management, so Roger and Marion stepped in and started The Miss Ramsgate Organisation to keep this long-standing position in the town. The rest is history.

Jenny Royce, who had been Carnival Chair when Marion and Roger first started on the Carnival, came back out of retirement and began to run the Carnival from 2014. But unfortunately, she had a prolonged battle with cancer which she fought bravely while still putting on a Carnival each year. She had help from Mick Pidduck. Mick receives the entries for the parade and organises them on the day, also booking in fair stalls and organising them on the fairground, plus booking events for the arena. Roger and Marion used to help Jenny and after her death they organised the last two Carnivals, one as a tribute to Jenny and then last year as their final one.

They still run the Miss Ramsgate Organisation and look after the visiting Queens and Courts on Carnival day and at the dance and meal after the parade. They are keeping their positions as President and Vice President of Ramsgate Carnival, offering advice and help when it is asked for. Mick Pidduck will still take entries for the parade and organise the parade order on the day, but Teresa will take the bookings for the fair pitches. Fiona Pearse is the new treasurer and Chris Quint remains head of traffic and marshalls. That is the extent of the Committee. None of the Ramsgate Town Councillors have any role in organising the parade, but Ramsgate Town Council has provided funding for the event.

Each year the Carnival has applied for event funding from Ramsgate Town Council and were awarded £2,000 through this fund. However, this year the funding has been drastically cut because of other events. The grant money is used to pay Thanet District Council for the hire of the land, road closures, barriers and traffic cones, as well as signage, health and safety survey, risk assessment and insurance, extension of opening times for toilets and extra waste bins. We are grateful for what we get from Ramsgate Town Council, but sadly it is not enough to cover the costs of bands. So, this year we have not been able to book any of the usual bands or music performers for the arena, or for the parade. The average spend on a band is £500 - £600: this is to pay their travelling expenses and insurance while the actual musicians love to take part and do not want any money for themselves.

We desperately need your help to keep Ramsgate Carnival going for the people of Ramsgate and to keep our historical legacy alive. It is free to enter and great fun. It is also fun to chat and laugh with the crowds, talk to them, encourage them to laugh and sing and even dance on the roadsides, but more important urge them to put some money in the collection tins! Only Ramsgate Carnival tins should be used for collecting donations, so all the money goes back into the Carnival funds to pay for the following year.

You can promote your business or organisation but not collect money for yourselves. We need this money or Ramsgate Carnival will die. Please don’t let that happen, especially in our Centenary Year. If everyone put in a few pence for each float, it will not cost you too much but give what you can. (We are not stopping you from putting in more if you wish!) Or if you would like to sponsor a band and have your business or organisation’s banner in front of the band as it marches along, we would love to hear from you.

Enjoy your Carnival Day and we look forward to seeing old friends and new.

Thank you for all your support in the past.

Written by:
Marion and Roger Pearce