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The earliest recorded carnival in Witham was 1929. There were occasional carnivals that were held during the 1930’s but it was not until 1951, to celebrate the Festival of Britain. Then, the RAFA undertook the organisation of an annual carnival. They did this until 1976 when the Witham Carnival Association was formed.

Witham Carnival is always held on the second Saturday in July. The procession starts from the Witham Town Football Club and makes it way through the town centre before finishing in Maldon Road Park.
In the park you will find Presland’s Fair and a host of arena events. Local organisations have fundraising or retail stalls throughout the park. Witham is one of the few carnivals that have the outgoing Queen and Court and the newly crowned Queen and Court in the Carnival procession. Money collected on the procession route along with gate money is allocated to several local charities each year. The money is presented to the charities at the Witham Carnival Presentation Dance (usually held in October/November, following the Carnival). The Carnival Queen and Princesses also represent Witham throughout their year by attending functions in the town and local areas, taking part in other Carnivals and entering competitions. This is an area of great pride, for which we have many awards to show off our success. The work of the Volunteers covers more than a 1 day carnival. The Queen and Court selection and dance takes place in April. A presentation evening is held as mentioned earlier, and there are numerous other carnivals and dances that take place throughout the year which the court attends.

A poster competition is held for local schools to design the poster that will be used to advertise the carnival, and grace the cover of the carnival programme. The winning school receives a donation from the carnival. During the week leading up to Carnival Day the judging will take place of the window displays entered by local shopkeepers in keeping with the theme of the Carnival for that year. The theme for our 2016 Carnival is “Celebrating 40 years of fun “.