Community spirit at the heart of Frome Carnival

THOUSANDS of people lined the streets of Frome to cheer on the much-loved Frome Carnival as the two processions made their way through the town last Saturday. 

Mandy Morgan from the carnival committee has thanked everyone who donated and praised the “real community spirit” that she says could be felt throughout both the children’s procession and the evening procession. 

The event raised £3,500 which will go towards supporting the future of the carnival as well as local charities including Active and in Touch, Frome Day Centre and Frome Birth Talk and Frome Birth Centre. 

“It was a really successful day and we raised a decent amount of money in very hard times for people and we’ve still got some donations coming through via the QR code, so this could still rise,” said Mandy. “We had two really big carts pull out last minute, through no fault of their own, which was a shame – but what was lovely is that Hot Rock still took part and they walked the route instead. They were actually awarded the Spirit of the Carnival Cup for this, as they showed true carnival spirit. 

“What was great was seeing lots of new clubs enter the carnival this year – we’re not a big carnival and we find it hard to compete with some of the others around the area but we try and support the smaller clubs when we can.” 

Frome Swimming Club and Frome Girl Guiding picked up awards at the Children’s Carnival in the afternoon and the overall winner of the evening procession was Magnum Carnival Club with their ‘The Shortest Day’ entry. 

Mandy added, “We’ve had some lovely comments from the public and it looked like people really enjoyed themselves this year. The ‘We Can, Can U?’ cart was very well loved as it was very original. 

“Thank you to all our un-sung heroes – the volunteers, judges and marshals who all gave up their time to help out – we had lots of community spirit. A big shout-out to the community flags group as this was a lovely addition to this year’s carnival and looked lovely lit up at night. 

“Lots of other groups helped each other for example we had grounds crew from Phoenix Allstars help out Magnum who had some illnesses on the day which was lovely to see. There’s so much in this carnival that is all about comradeship – yes there is a competition that all the entrants want to win but everyone supports each other here. This year the spirit of carnival shone out through different groups helping each other and made the day what it was. 

“If people want to see us come back next year, hopefully even bigger and better, then please consider donating. We also need people to get involved so please contact us if this is of interest.” 

If you would like to get involved with the carnival visit https://www.fromecarnival.org.uk/ or contact Mandy on 07913 057968. 

If you would like to donate to Frome Carnival visit https://www.paypal.com/uk/fundraiser/charity/2708407  

A video of the procession, taken by Mark Sivell, can be found at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnJlRyckZOA

To view the full results from both the afternoon and evening processions visit Frome Street Carnival on Facebook.