History In The Making

Hordes of people are expected to line the streets of Littlehampton on Saturday to watch the colourful procession and enjoy entertainment galore.

Carnival president Freda Hughes explained: "We decided on British history as it is the Queen's golden jubilee year.

"This gives floats and walking groups quite a lot of scope as to how they choose to dress."

Of course, the most important thing to do on Saturday is to enjoy yourself.

And with the fantastic procession, live music, fun fair and the Littlehampton fire station open day, the day promises to be a feast of fun.

Freda added: "This year's carnival is going to be even bigger and better than last year."

A total of 6,500 has been spent on entertainment and 4,000 man hours have gone into planning and preparation for the big day.

The carnival will be opened by Littlehampton mayor Wendy Squires at 10am, followed by a display by the City of Coventry Corps of Drums.

A superb selection of entertainment is then scheduled to take place in the High Street.

And things will be hotting up round the corner at the fire station when it throws open its doors to the public.

Vintage fire engines, community fire safety advice and demonstrations by firefighters are all included in the station's programme of events.

Visitors will even be able to watch firefighters cut their way into a car, so park your car well away unless you want it turned into a convertible!

You will also be able to meet firefighters and find out about recruitment and the free smoke detector scheme, as well as having a good nose round the station.

The carnival's children's fancy dress competition takes place at 1pm, followed by displays by the Medina Marching Band and Shoreham's now legendary Beach Bateria.

The group's 25 drummers, 15 dancers and stilt walkers have to be seen and heard and provide a nice intro to the main procession.

The Littlehampton Carnival Queen and princesses will be coming past in a beautiful BMW convertible and the junior princess and flower girls will follow in a classic open top MG.

They all have beautiful dresses to wear which have been kept a closely guarded secret until the big day.

And, of course, the queen and princesses will be wearing their brand new headgear the Ockendens bicentennial coronet and tiaras.

The procession will be led by Basingstoke Cavaliers, who are the current European showband champions.

They will be joined by a huge array of marching bands, walking groups and 21 floats.

The procession will wind its way through the town and will also be joined by the road train, occupied by all the entrants to this year's junior princess competition.

Also on the road train will be carnival queens from East Preston and Rustington and Miss Bonfire.

The parade will finish on Southfields Recreation Ground for presentation of trophies, and Coles' funfair will be waiting to round off the day.

Full details of the parade route can be found in the official programme, priced 20p and available from many outlets in the town, including the Littlehampton Gazette office in Beach Road.