FEATURES AND REVIEWS

Cow Town's Colourful Carnival

A gloriously sunny evening on Saturday August 8th added to the enjoyment of this year's Cow Town Carnival, with crowds lining Bolton St, waiting for the procession to reach Rea Barn Hill traffic lights for the customary exchange of goods, before the procession down into the town centre.

At the longstanding divide between the two areas of Brixham known for generations as, Cow Town and Fish Town, Cow Town Mayor John Beer came bearing gifts of vegetables, which he gave to fisherman John Lovell to allow the procession to pass into Fish Town. In return the Mayor of Cow Town received the customary gift from Fish Town, which this year was a line of mackerel. All of the proceedings were commented on by Tony Criddle, who kept the crowds amused as he took over the role of comparing the Carnival, carried out in previous years by his father Ernie Criddle, whilst son Coxswain Mark Criddle drove him around.

Following the exchange the Barnstable Marching Band set the rhythm at the head of the parade, Samba Jam kept everyone in the carnival mood as they followed up the rear. Many of the floats were accompanied by their own sounds and the Brixham All Stars giving a lively and enthusiastic performance in their first Cow Town Carnival as Brixham's very own majorettes.

Floats included All Saints Junior Church's Jonah and the Whale and a cleverly wrapped fish tank full of Clown fish and friends created by members of RNLI Lifeboat crew and their children. With Miss Torbay providing Arabian Nights and the Dawlish entry of Queen of the Musicals, Brixham guides created characters from Alice in Wonderland and a large orange Dragon made its way along the streets.

The dragon appeared as a result of the Friends of St Mary's Park Group setting up free workshops, led by Create Workshops at the Lighthouse, to produce this long fiery creature especially for the Carnival.Brixham Berserkers with Ogres and swordsmen also stomped around but they were quite harmless as they were focused on fighting each other!

The Carnival procession which began and ended in St Mary's Park followed an extremely successful Family Fun Day at the Park. Spokesperson for the Friends of St Mary's Park Group, Megan Hart said, “We would like to thank everyone who helped on the day to make it such a fantastic event. The Fun Day was packed and we had no idea there would be so many people.”

Megan was grateful to all the stall holders and individuals who helped supply food, drinks and rides and wanted to stress that the emphasis was on a 'Family Fun Day', so prices were kept to a minimum. As well as stalls and rides there were many activities and the winner of the Baby Show this year was Ewan , whilst the Best Dog in Show ,Tiger Lillie.