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10 June 2011

Acton Carnival 2011 Review

This year’s Acton Carnival took place on a seemingly grey, overcast Saturday 9th July. However, the clouds parted just as the festivities began and it stayed bright all afternoon, the Acton Park site eventually seeing near to 10000 people throughout the day. Now into its 9th year, the carnival is a wonderful expression of community in the area and there was a wide range of ages and nationalities present, a testament to the breadth of the entertainment on offer on the day.

The 2011 carnival was also the biggest to date, the partnership of Acton Community Forum, the Carnival Committee and Ealing Council bringing in a full line-up of live acts on the main stage as well as ensuring the involvement of many other groups, once again making Acton Carnival the largest community-led event in the borough.

The fun began at midday with the carnival procession, taking its now-traditional route from Woodlands Park, Crown Street to the main site in Acton Park on The Vale. 17 different organisations and groups took part this year, Acton High Street being transformed once again by the processors’ music, dance and colourfulness. This year’s carnival procession was led by Mayor John Gallagher and included: West London Trade Union Club, APPLE, Miss Teen Ealing, Ealing Chinese School, Stixman Sounds, Oaktree Playscheme, Acton High School, YSB Arts Youth Group, Positive Awareness - WAPPY, Stardust, Dance Carib, Dominican Overseas National Association, Acton & West London College, Eclipse American Cheerleaders, arts4REAL/West London Anti-Racist Alliance, Platform 51 and the Acton Music Collective.

The set-up of the Acton Park Festival that met the carnival procession was expanded from previous years while maintaining popular features. The central focus was the main stage, supported by the Old Skool area, the annual Dominoes Competition (won for the first time this year by the Acton Vale Luncheon Club team) and the new Mencap stage. The Cultural Quarter, featuring the stalls of local community organisations and charities and the Food Village ran in an L-shape from underneath the tree-lined path in the middle of the site. The Children and Family areas returned, in addition to the Safer Neighbourhood’s Police stand and the funfair. Some of the performers from the procession set up on the site and continued to entertain carnival-goers, the Stardust steel-pan with Dance Carib being a popular example.

The main stage was again hosted by Sandra Melody, DJ Illatek & DJ Drapes.with the sound system provided by Intimate Connection. The stage saw a great mixture of community and school groups performing, as well as professional acts, and drew a large crowd all through the day. The community groups that performed were: Carnival Masqueraders Showcase, Eclipse Productions, Youth Street Beat Arts Youth Group and Swingerz/Fly Stars. These were joined by school groups from Ealing Chinese School, who performed a lion dance, and Acton High School, both receiving a lot of support from the crowd, many present going to one of the schools at some point in their lives. Local Latin band Palenke appeared twice during the day, in addition to solo artist Ingrid Webster performing London Zulu. The headline acts - Janet Kay, Sandra Cross, Carroll Thompson, Slyvia Tella and Skipper - did not disappoint, the joint set from Lovers Rock legends Kay and Thompson providing the standout moment in a day of quality music.

Elsewhere on the site, Tippa Audio and Leathon LaCrette ran the Old Skool stage, playing out classics to a very appreciative crowd. The Food Village stalls kept carnival-goers fed and watered with a selection of food and drink from a wide range of cultures. Attendees both young and old had the chance to learn about locals groups and the work they do in the Cultural Quarter of the site and many had a great time on the funfair rides. The vibe of the site was excellent throughout, and thanks should go out to all involved for their hard work, both in preparation and on the day. Here’s to Acton Carnival 2012!

Article by young journalist and first time visitor to Acton Carnival, Jack Luckett

Summer is round the corner and for all us Actonians that means one thing: CARNIVAL TIME!

The festivities are once again taking place on Acton High Street and Park and ACF hopes to make this years’ bigger and better than ever.

Acton Park Festival

Acton Park held most of the events of the day, this truly transformed the park through different elements of the family Festival, including the Main Stage, Family area, Cultural and Faith Quarter, Youth arena, Craft Stalls, Fun fair, the Food Village & picnic area.

Carnival Acton Park Festival Attractions include: main stage, stalls, cultural quarter, Old Skool tent, family focus, food village, fun fair, festivities for all to enjoy.

Performers: Caroll Thompson, Sandra Cross, Janet Kay, Sylvia Teller, Palenke, Skipper and Ingrid Webster

Other main stage performers: Eclipse Productions, Ealing Chinese School, Acton High School, YSB Arts Youth Group, Pinnacle Performing Arts and Swingers.

PA Suplied by Intermate Connections

Acts supported by Sounds:

Rapattack | Sir Jesus | Diamonds (GBF)

...plus Old Skool Tent courtesy of Tippa Audio & Leathon LaCrette

Saturday 9th July

Carnival Theme: ‘Reunite’

Carnival Procession:Procession departs from Crown Street at 12 noon, down the High Street to Acton Park. Prize for the group with the best costume.

Acton Park Festival: Attractions include: main stage, stalls, cultural quarter, Old Skool tent, family focus, food village, fun fair, festivities for all to enjoy.

Carnival meeting dates: Tuesday 5th April, 17th May, and 28th June at 6pm at Oaktree Community Centre, Osborne Road, Acton, W3 8SJ. All welcome!

Procession will Include:

His Worship the Mayor of Ealing

APPLE

Stixman Sounds

Oaktree Playscheme

Eclipse American Cheer Leaders

Platform 51

Ealing Chinese School

YSB Arts Youth Group

Dance Carib

Tallo Centre

Stardust Mas Band

West London Anti Racist Alliance

Acton High School

Acton Music Collective

Berrymede after school club

Acton & West London College

Bollo United Football Club

West London Trade Union Club

Click to See

A Short History of Acton Carnivals

map

Crown Street | Acton Central

How to get there:

By train: Acton Central

By tube: Acton Town

By bus: 207, 607, 266, 70, E3

Contacts

Procession & Stage enquiries:

Rachel Pepper

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02089936158

Stall enquiries:

Angela Baptiste
Event Manager
London Borough of Ealing, 1st Floor, SW, Perceval House, W5 2HL
Tel: 020 8825 6051
Fax: 020 8825 6336
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Acton Carnival

Written by Administrator | 05 April 2010

One of the first projects we took on back in 2003 and certainly the biggest event in Acton's calendar. Acton Carnival is a unique opportunity for Acton’s diverse communities to come together and celebrate. It has grown to such an extent that it is now part of the Ealing Summer Programme supported by the Council’s Events Team

Acton Carnival, held every year in July, is a vibrant, grassroots community festival. The high-quality music, dance, performance, stalls and exhibits found at the carnival, plus the great food, are hugely enjoyed by West Londoners of all ages

Months of preparation and planning, workshops, costume making and dance rehearsals, in schools, youth and community centres come together to make the spectacle of Carnival. The Carnival offers opportunities for all, whether you would like to take part in the procession, perform, run a stall or activity, or simply come along to enjoy.

ACTON-POSTER

Acton Carnival 2010

Acton Carnival 2010 was the biggest and best to date, attracting over 10,000 festival goers on what was a beautiful sunny day. The carnival parade and festival in Acton Park involved young and old, and different cultural and creative expressions. There was something for everyone whether enjoying stage acts, picnicking with the family, checking out the stalls, taking part in activities or socialising with old and new friends.

Carnival 2010 followed the tradition of the past and attracted Acton’s communities to the biggest community-led event in the borough. Many events came together to form the Carnival, the events were as follows:

Carnival Procession

The Carnival procession began in Woodlands Park, Crown Street and was led by Deputy Mayor John Gallagher. 21 organisations took part composed of over 400 participants, and Acton High Street came alive with music and dance. Chaperoned by Police and Stewards this years carnival included: Oaktree Playscheme with Misty Carnival, Nexos Latino Americanos, Stixman Sounds, Acton High School, Ealing Chinese School, Youth Street Beats, Acton & West London College, Dance Carib, Dominican Overseas Nationals Association, Tallo Information Centre, Stardust, Oke Osisi Afika organization, A.P.P.L.E., Hanwell Carnival Queen and Princess, London Transport Museum, Acton Library and Derwent Water Primary School.

Acton Park Festival

The Main Stage

The Main Festival Stage courtesy of Intimate Connections and hosted by Westside DJ’s included song and dance performed to audiences though-out the day. Stardust Steel Orchestra opened the Carnival, followed by the Russian Dance Academy and Kalinka Dance Studio. The Deputy Mayor welcomed everyone to Carnival 2010, and the Carnival Procession Showcase followed with each of the groups taking part in the procession performing to the large audience. The main stage at Acton Carnival has been hosted by Westside FM for the last four years, for any more information please look at http://www.westsideradio.co.uk.

For the remainder of the afternoon community and professional acts entertained the festival-goers, including Barbara Speake Stage School, Akhtamar Armenian Dance Group, Pinnacle Performing Arts, WAPPY, Eclipse Productions, Nexos Latino Americanos, Ealing Chinese School, Youth Street Beat, Dance Carib, Ras Naldo, Leutenants, John McClean, Sandra Cross and Don Campbell.

Old Skool Tent

New this year was the Old Skool Tent hosted by Tippa Audio, where there was a chilled atmosphere and some good old skool music. This was enjoyed by all ages allowing the young people to be exposed to genres of music not so popular today and for the older people to relive some beloved memories.

The Cultural Quarter & Faith Zone

The stands in this zone represented groups displaying their cultural crafts and information in the Cultural Quarter and running taster sessions throughout the day this year were: Oke-Osisi Afrika, Ealing Chinese School, Nexos Latino Americanos, Tallo Information Centre, Misty Carnival Club, Acton History Society, Centre for Armenian Information & Advice, Dance Carib, Black History & Culture West London and the annual Dominoes Tournament between United Anglo Caribbean Society (winners again: congratulations!) and Acton Vale Luncheon Club.

This year’s Acton Carnival also featured a Faiths Zone for the first time this year, where different faith communities shared the common ground and where they had a chance to share their community contributions and services. Participating groups included the Acton Asian Association, Acton Mosque, Rivers of Living Water Ministries. The combination all all these faiths teaching and learning about one another gave the Faiths Zone a very open and torelant atmosphere.

The Food Village and Stalls

The Food Village brought flavours from around the world to tempt festival goers, with something here for everyone to enjoy in the picnic area. The delicious food combined with the Arts & Crafts stalls showing a variety of wares meant carnival goers got a chance to eat and buy unique peices not found in local shops. Information stalls also raised awareness about their services.

The Youth Area

The Youth Area supported by Youth & Connexions has always been an essential part of the Carnivsl and this year was no exception. Young people from all parts of the area came together to participate in activities to do with arts, crafts and sports. The Youth Area also provided easily accessible information and advice for young people.

Thank You

Acton Carnival would not have been possible without the essential contribution of everyone involved.

Thanks to Acton Community Forum and the Events Team for co-ordinating the event and to the Acton Carnival committee for keeping the grassroots flavour. Thanks to the Carnival Parade participants, stewards, community organisations, entertainers, stallholders, caterers, artists and those running activities. Also to Youth and Connexions, the Funfair, Faith and Cultural Quarter organisers. Thanks especially to those who have freely given their time, energy and skills. Thanks to all of the people who have worked hard behind the scenes to make Acton Carnival possible. Thanks to the technicians, security and the police. Thanks to Daniel Ramdeen, Intimate Connections and the backstage crew for the Main stage, and Leathon La Crette & Tippa Audio for the Old Skool Tent, not forgetting Stixman sounds for the procession. Thanks also to those who have financially supported Acton Carnival, including the London Borough of Ealing, Faiths in Action, Acton Community Forum, the Arts Council, and the support of Southall Community Alliance and Westside Radio.

We appreciate the input of all of those who make Carnival possible, and welcome others to get involved. It is with participation that transformation and ownership are possible. Call Acton Community Forum on 0208 993 6158 to discuss ways to take part and shape next year’s Carnival.

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Carnival 2009

Written by Administrator | 26 November 2009

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