PLANS for Westbury’s very own Carnival have been put on hold.
The Carnival committee had been hoping to start the event in September this year, but has now agreed to defer the Carnival until September 2012.
The plan to bring the Carnival back to Westbury was launched by town councillor, Stephen Miles, last May. While the idea gained a positive response from people in the town, Stephen says that too few have been prepared to commit to making the dream a reality.
Stephen said, “A core reason is that we do not consistently have the right number of people. We need a smallish group of people who we can depend on to come regularly to the committee and then a loop of people we can depend on to stay with it. No-one expects everyone to come all the time, but you do need something far more dependable than what we’ve got at the minute.”
The committee has also struggled to get the support it had hoped for from schools and organisations in the town.
“Getting into February was the catalyst, it made us realise that we were only five months away and had very little for definite,” Stephen said.
“It’s strange that a town like Westbury cannot get this going even when small places like Tisbury and Dilton Marsh can. It’s a disappointment but we’re not going to give up just like that.”
Stephen remains hopeful that a Carnival will be seen in Westbury’s streets in 2012. “Everyone I’ve seen is very interested in seeing the Carnival come back and I’ve not had any criticism of not wanting it,” he said.
“I do hope that we shall eventually be able to get everyone on board. I want it as a community event for everybody where there is something for everyone – but to do that we need to get people for everything!”
