Saturday 27th August . 7.30pm. 2 Groups - Montana + Night Shift. Disco. Bar. Food. Tickets - Adults £6.00 in advance £7.00 on the night. Children under 14 free. Tickets now available ring Bill England 01295 760744 for more info.

The following attractions have been confirmed.....!

Just a quick note to make you aware of how you can use the Helmdon Carnival to raise some £££ for your village group and also help support the Brackley Cottage Hospital.

The committee are busy planning the numerous stalls and activities for the carnival day. This is an excellent opportunity for each and every village group to get something out of the carnival by running a stall or activity.

So… put your thinking caps on and get in touch with either myself or Claire Bryant and GET INVOLVED.

How it works.

If your village group runs a stall such as ‘guess the weight of the cake’ ‘ welly wanging’ or selling jams etc.. or to run an activity like ‘car washing’ etc. The carnival will ask for 50% of what profits you make. This then gets fed directly into the carnival funds which support Brackley Cottage Hospital and other village groups. The remaining 50% is kept by the village group.

This has proven to work extremely well. As an example last year the tea and coffee stall raised over £600. Therefore the group that ran this put £300 into their funds for only 3hrs work. Unfortunately the tea and coffee stall is covered for this year, but we are open to any ideas you may have for other stalls / activities.

The carnival committee are extremely keen to get each and every village group involved in some way in the carnival proceedings. So please put your thinking caps on and get in touch.

Regards,

Dave Bailey
Chair Carnival Committee

6th June 2005

The Carnival Committee are holding the draw of the Sports Raffle on 19th of June at 1 pm at the Bell Pub with BBQ. The prizes this year are fabulous so make sure you buy those last minute tickets!

A poster advertising the event is being put up around the village.

3rd May 2005

It was felt that the St Georges Day dance went well and was enjoyed by those who attended. A small profit was made and a donation of £80 was received from the bar. Approx 50 tickets were sold.

Sports Raffle Draw - Will be held on Sunday 19th June at the Bell Inn Pub, Helmdon, along with a BBQ.

The proposed categories for this year's dog show at the carnival are:

Best pedigree
Best cross-bred
The dog the judge wants to take home
Best 6 legs
Dog most like its owner
Waggiest tail

14th April 2005

A letter sent to all village groups:

Dear Carnival Friend,

Re; 23rd Helmdon Carnival 29th August 2005

As you are aware the Carnival weekend is fast approaching and the Committee is busy planning and arranging a whole host of activities to ensure the event offers a fun packed day. Every year the Carnival continues to be hugely supported by the people, groups and organisations of Helmdon. This letter is a means of highlighting developments so far and offers the opportunity for your village group to be involved.

The Theme this year, as chosen by the children of Helmdon School, is 'International Dress' and plans are being made to start the fun day with a walking procession, including band, from the school up to the sports field. This offers a great opportunity for families and friends to dress up, take part and have the opportunity of winning a fancy dress prize!!

In addition it has been suggested that the 'tug of war' shall be a programmed event. Therefore we are seeking teams to represent their village group or village street and wonder if your village organisation would be interested? A team consists of eight people, so if you can get a team together please reply to this letter or let John Coatsworth johncoatsworth@aol.com (tel: 760675) know. The tug of war competition is meant to be fun and light hearted so please join in with us to make it a fun activity.

Each year the Carnival offers Village groups and organisations the opportunity to raise a few pounds for their chosen causes as well as supporting the
Reading Rooms, Sports Club and Brackley Cottage Hospital. If your group has time to spare, would like to have a stall this year or have any ideas for stalls or activities such as 'splat the rat', 'Treasure Island', 'Guess the weight of the cake' etc, then please get in touch.

One stall that has run almost every year since the carnival began is the 'cake stall', however, as yet no village group has come forward to claim this little gold mine and it is therefore up for grabs!

Please share this information with your friends, colleagues and fellows and thank you for your continued support.

If your group would like to take part in this years Carnival or you require further information please do not hesitate to telephone or email me. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Claire Bryant
Carnival Secretary
01295 768403
email; claireyb33@hotmail.com

12th April 2005

Each year the Carnival weekend attracts over 1500 people and generates well-needed money for Brackley Cottage Hospital, Helmdon Sports Club, Reading Room and other local charities. The Carnival stretches over the whole weekend and includes a Carnival Dance on Saturday night, Jazz on the Sunday and the main Carnival and grand raffle on the bank holiday Monday.

The Programme for this years event is currently being designed and advertising space is available. This is an excellent opportunity for local businesses to reach over 1500 people who work and live in the villages surrounding Helmdon as each entrant is given a copy of the programme

The programme is A5 size and prices are:

- £50 - full page
- £25 - half page
- £15 - 1/4 page
- £ 8 - 1/8 page

If you would like to take the opportunity to advertise in this years programme or would like to make a donation or contribute a raffle prize for our Grand Draw, please send an e-mail to the Carnival Secretary, Claire Bryant.

The next meeting of the Carnival committee is on Tuesday 3rd May at 8:00 p.m. in the Reading Room.

20th March 2005

The theme for Carnival 2005 will be "International Dress". It was chosen by the children at Helmdon Primary School from a short list given to them by the carnival committee.

The committee, which contains lots of new faces with new enthusiasm, has met three times already so plans are already well underway. The hope is to blend the best of the events and attractions from previous years with some new ideas to keep the format fresh.

Although there won't be floats again this year because of the cost of insurance, it is hoped to have a walking procession with marching band etc.

Back by popular demand will be the dog show, following last year's successful inaugural event. The dog show combines serious (best in breed etc) with fun (waggiest tail).

To kick start the fund raising for Carnival 2005 there will be a St George's Day dance on Saturday 23rd April 2005 at 8:00 p.m. in the Reading Room. Tickets are £5 which includes a cold buffet. Music and entertainment will be provided by the ever-popular Night Shift. For tickets and further information please contact Bill England (760744 / e-mail) or Steve Potter (768378).

If you have any comments or suggestions, or you would like to get involved with the fun of organising the Carnival, please contact any member of the committee.