Tarporley Carnival was filled with the sounds and sights of Africa

Jul 15 2010 by Naomi Dunning, Chester Chronicle

THE African celebrations made their way from the World Cup to the Tarporley Carnival parade which was packed with safari scenes and the sounds of vuvuzelas.

The carnival was blessed with superb sunshine which brought more than 2,000 people out to celebrate the village day.

The parade was led by the Tarporley fire brigade, and then followed by floats from the Primary School, High School, Karting Club, churches and Done Room pre-school play group.

The Out of Africa themed floats were judged as they passed The Swan Hotel by the local and district Chairman and Governor of Round Table and Rotary club. They then crowded in to the arena for the prize giving.

Dillon Atkinson won the prize for the best individual child entrant and the judges could not separate the two best adults who were Janet Willis and Veda Phillingham parading for Tarporley Baptist Church. The overall group display winners were the Tarporley Karting Team.

Throughout the afternoon there were more than 30 stalls entertaining the crowds whilst raising money for their causes.

One of the most innovative, was the Karting Clubs Bush Tukka Trial which involved contestants dipping their hands into five buckets of indescribable concoctions to locate prizes.

Rotary President Andrew Wallace said “It’s a privilege for Rotary to be able to work with Round Table and put on an event that the whole village is able to enjoy – and many charities can benefit from.”

Mr Wallace added: “But the carnival’s not just about us – we couldn’t make it happen without the support of a large number of community minded people and clubs in the village to whom we, and everyone, are very grateful.”