The Crowthorne Carnival is a community led event comprising a number of activities.  The range of activities are intended to appeal to all ages and provide opportunities for everyone to get involved and have a bit of fun.

The Crowthorne Carnival is managed by a group of unpaid volunteers according to its Constitution.  The objectives of the Carnival are:

a) To foster community spirit by promoting, normally every other year, a Carnival for the enjoyment of residents living within the village of Crowthorne, the general public and local businesses.  

b) To encourage and enable local organisations wishing to participate thereby helping to promote community spirit and cohesion.

c) The Association must be self-supporting financially.  Though it will be necessary to raise funds to enable the Carnival to be run in a satisfactory manner. 

The Carnival takes as its premise that being involved in community activities that are fun and enjoyable increases the community spirit, benefits the relationships between people, and fosters a general sense of ‘belonging’.  This in turn leads to less civic disorder, less crime, and less petty irritating behaviours.  Most importantly it provides a ‘feel good’ factor for belonging to a local community.

The Carnival provides a unifying theme around which people and organisations can organise and undertake activities which themselves help to achieve the objectives of the Carnival.  That is, indirect Carnival activities (such as making costumes, preparing for stalls, learning new songs and dances) are themselves benefits from the Carnival as they arise from the fact of the Carnival itself.  The Carnival Committee develop a programme of activity around a Theme and provide the core delivery infrastructure enabling the community to get involved and direct their activities towards a single common goal.

The Crowthorne Carnival has a long and successful tradition in providing these benefits to the Crowthorne community through:

• A Carnival Programme delivered to every home in Crowthorne promoting the Carnival activities and supporting local businesses by providing them with ways to raise their local profile and promote themselves.

• A procession through the village in which any person or organisation can take part in any way that they wish simply for the fun of it.

• A competition for the procession entries that provides an added impetus to ensure a high standard of entry.

• An opportunity for local dignitaries and elected officials to be involved with the community in order to gain an appreciation of the community spirit in the village.

• Provide an opportunity for local ‘emergency’ services (fire, police, ambulance etc) to engage directly with the community in a relaxed environment and to explain the range of their services.

• An event field where local organisations can have a stall to raise funds, raise awareness, or just showcase what they do and perhaps attract new members.

• A venue for local engagement whether that’s through sport, music or dance or just a chat over a cup of tea. 

• Affiliated events throughout the week aimed to appeal to a wide range of people, organisations and interests.

• The Carnival provides an excuse for small groups (e.g. families, streets, local organisations) to continue the party atmosphere in their own way (e.g. B-B-Qs) outside of the organised events.

Click here to download the constitution