Ilkeston - Lions Club Carnival 2009
w/e 14 June 2009
All this week's pictures were taken with a Kodak DX6490

The Ilkeston Lions Club is a registered charity raising funds for people in need. Many local organisations have received donations from the Club and this year the main beneficiaries of the Annual Carnival will be the Air Ambulance and Ilkeston School's Multi Media Gallery Appeal.

Leading The Parade

The street parade was led by the Long Eaton Militaires who paused outside the Town Hall to allow the Majorettes to put on a display. The youth of today often get a bad press and the work of organisations such as this often goes unnoticed so it was good to see the Militaires get a very good reception.
Queen For The Day

Fifteen year old Laura Hunt was recently crowned the new Carnival Queen and followed the Militaires in an open-top car waving to the assembled crowds as she passed. Laura is reported as saying that she had wanted to be the Carnival Queen since she was a little girl adding: "I'm so excited - the first thing I'm going to do is break it to my grandma - she'll be so happy for me."
Classic Vehicles

The parade was augmented by a number of classic vehicles that included an old Barton's Transport luxury coach, an Ind Coope lorry and even Dr Who's car complete with Dalek and Tardis. No doubt the esteemed Time Lord was well impressed with the gleaming bodywork on all the vehicles.
Floating By

The carnival was advertised as having a dozen floats and I counted at least seven or eight lorries representing different organisations plus other vehicles, trailers and walking groups so the bystanders were not short changed. In recent years we have been lucky to see half this amount so the Lions Club deserve a huge amount of credit for all the work they have put in to make this year's carnival a success.
A Line Of Lorries

The parade ended on the Rutland Recreation Ground where the line of floats stopped to allow all the participants to disembark and join in with the rest of the activities that had been organised.
A Good Turn Out

The showers that had been forecast failed to materialise over Ilkeston and the population heeded the local newspaper's headline to get out and "Support The Carnival" as thousands of people turned up on the Rec. If the Carnival had been held seven days earlier then it could have been a complete washout as rain fell for almost all of the previous weekend. Prayers had obviously been answered in the best way possible.
Flyball Dogs

In the main arena there were displays all afternoon by marching bands, the Pop Divas Dance Troupe (another local organisation working with the young) a gymnastics group and the Hucknall Flyball Dogs (pictured).
Activities & Displays

And all around the Rec were various charity stalls, a fun fair and other attractions. The Army turned up with their climbing tower; in addition to the classic cars there was also a display of motor cycles and this Golden Eagle was just one of a number of birds of prey on display.

People of my generation and older may well remember the carnivals of the post war years and earlier when events took place every night of the week and there were huge numbers of floats and bands. The 2009 Carnival did not reach those heights but it has to be said that this is the best carnival both in terms of the parade, the activities and the attendance figures for many a long year. Well done the Lions Club!

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