The Wroughton Carnival was revived by an adventurous group of people in the mid-1990s. Months of planning, worry, cajoling and doubtless sleepless nights led to a brilliant first event.  Such was the enthusiasm that the carnival created that it has been a regular village event ever since.

It is one of the times in the year that the streets of the village throng with people and a huge party goes on from lunchtime till late in the evening. With the magnificent carnival procession, the stalls and music on the Weir Field ending with fireworks, there is sure to be something for everyone.

Most carnivals around the world have their origin in the few days before the Christian season of Lent, the church’s time of preparation for Easter. They were a time of plenty when people used up all their rich foods and had a party before the start of a more reflective and serious time of the year. That is all well and good in warmer parts of the world, but an open-air festival in February is not well suited to our weather.

The origins of Wroughton’s Carnival are different. In times past the feast day of the church, in our case St John the Baptist was celebrated. This takes place on 24^th June. Part of the local tradition for this day was to balance a pig on a wall as the carnival procession went by so that not only the residents of Wroughton could enjoy the spectacle, but so, also, could the pig. Those with a longer memory and deeper knowledge of the history of Wroughton may be able to offer further enlightenment about this tradition.

What is good about today’s carnival is the way that so many people from disparate groups in the village and gather together, put in huge amounts of effort, and produce a wonderful celebration of who we are as a community.

In an age when across the country people talk of communities disintegrating and fragmenting, the carnival is an event that declares that we in Wroughton will never do that. It reminds us that we belong together, that because we have so many and diverse skills, interests and talents that together we are able to have a wonderful celebration that is so much greater than the sum of the parts that go into the event.

It celebrates the talent in our village, enables people to meet, to enjoy what we hope will be a bright sunny day, and reminds us that it is not just on one day of the year that we are a community, but every day.

So for me, not only is carnival day an excellent celebration, it is also a reminder of all the good things that build up our community; of all the acts of kindness that are offered and received around the village every day; a celebration of the sense of belonging that those who live here enjoy: it is about celebrating all the good aspects of or village life.

And, lest I sound complacent, it is also an opportunity to resolve to do what we all can to make it an even better place for every member of our community.

Yours sincerely,