IT WAS a good evening for Holsworthy Carnival on Saturday, November 17.

Unlike 2017, it stayed dry for the event — although the wind was cold. There were even reports of a small tornado on Waterloo Road just before the procession got underway, though thankfully there were no ‘Wizard of Oz’ entries in this year’s carnival!

The evening began with the crowning of this year’s Carnival Queen, 13-year-old Evony-Rose Bright from Holsworthy Community College, and this year’s Carnival Princess, eight-year old Paige Chidley from Holsworthy Primary School, on the balcony of the White Hart Hotel at 7pm.

The two girls looked lovely in their royal costumes and there was a large crowd in front of the White Hart to watch the ceremony.

This year the carnival committee wanted to do something to mark the 100th anniversary of the ending of World War I on November 11.

So this year’s procession was led off by 100 school children carrying giant poppies. The children came from Holsworthy Primary School and the Community College, and other local schools including Clawton Primary School.

It was a fitting way to end the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the ending of the war — something that the town as a whole did in the weeks leading up to November 11.

The procession itself was huge this year — the end of the parade hadn’t even reached the half-way point by the time the front of the procession had actually finished the entire route.

The size of the crowd lining the streets of Holsworthy was also enormous this year. Estimates ranged from between 3,500 to 4,500 people — though the exact number isn’t really known.

Richard Hutchings, former Holsworthy Lions president and current chairman of the St Peter’s Fair committee, said it was the biggest crowd he had seen in at least 30 years.

The procession of floats was, as always, wonderfully colourful and noisy.

Holsworthy carnival committee chairman, Ted England, said he was very pleased that this year’s carnival had been so successful and so well-attended.

He extended his thanks to all the members of the carnival committee — Lions and non-Lions alike — for their hard work over the past year. He also extended his thanks to all the organisations and individuals, too numerous to mention individually, who gave up their time to help on the evening itself. The carnival committee as a whole expressed its thanks to all the people who took part in this year’s event — and all those who lined the streets to watch it. The committee added: “We look forward to seeing you all again in 2019.”

The independent judges had a very difficult time judging all the entrants to this year’s carnival as the standard was particularly high.