Published at 19:26, Thursday, 04 June 2009

A SPLASH of summer sunshine works wonders for community spirit.

It’s the traditional time of year for our town and village carnivals, although our feature on page 29 today questions whether there’s a future for these events.

Once the high point of summer for many communities, the number of carnivals has been dwindling over the years.

Maryport’s summer parade has been cancelled because of a lack of funds and helpers. The amount of health and safety red tape these days doesn’t encourage organisers.

But there are still a good number of carnivals being kept alive by active bands of volunteers: Seaton, Aspatria, Dearham, Broughton, Cockermouth, and Frostoms to name just some.

And what’s also clear is that people still enjoy large scale community events – even if they don’t happen under the carnival banner.

West Cumbria’s festival scene is booming; Maryport Blues, Solfest, CockRock and the Keswick Jazz festival are huge events.

Last weekend’s Walk to the Stars event in Maryport drew big crowds.

Tonight’s Midnight Walk for Hospice at Home West Cumbria again shows that community spirit is alive and well.

There was certainly an appetite for last summer’s Paint the Town Red event in Workington, which succeeded because of its family carnival atmosphere.

West Cumbria’s summer is certainly bursting with activity.

West Cumbria’s summer is clearly bursting with activity.

The carnivals, and their various modern day spin-offs, are far from over.

Published by http://www.timesandstar.co.uk