The below item comes courtesy of the Chairman of Hale Carnival, local villager,  Mr Peter Platt .

 

Hale Carnival 2009
Chairs report

The sun smiling made Hale Carnival this year, fact!
However if I was to include one additional attribute, I would include the people who have work voluntarily over the last ten months in preparation to continue with this historic tradition of which has become a nostalgic event for Hale dating back to 1952.
In addition I would like to express my sincerest thanks and appreciation to the people who lent more than a helping hand on both the Friday and Carnival day itself, without any of whom the Carnival would not achieve the X factor status it deserves.
So, everything really did depend on the weather, and the day could not have been better. Seeing the Rose Queen and her entourage in all their glory on the sunniest of English days is something only other distant counterparts can only dream about, and to be crowned by our very own Lord Mayor should leave a lifetime of memories for this small group of our young Hale generation.
I estimated 4,000 plus may well have visited the newly refurbished park this day, with the live entertainment within the arena being designed to promote interest to both young and old alike and in general provide good all round family entertainment. How spectacular was the U2 tribute act Elevation? and the youngsters from Liverpool Elite and Step in Time gave a down to earth performance that epitomises what the youth of today really can do. Once again I must pay the utmost respect to Hale Tai Chi whose graciousness and discipline during their performance was a spectacle for us all to see. We, not so young ones still have a lot to learn from good folk like you.
The giants caused quite a stir from the younger element due to their whole enormous presence and the Wirral Samba Band veered slightly away from the traditional bands of the past, but maintained and even progressed the Carnival to a higher elevation. These two performing arts was always something innovative the committee wanted to bring to the party, and that we did with real success might I add.
Hands on or off! The reptile marquee was again something I would not hesitate to recommend for future events and our friends the donkies I am sure continue to be happy to strut their stuff across the park. I was taken back to my child hood with the demonstration of the scalectrix race track, and please let me take this opportunity in thanking Nick for his time effort and no doubt continuous patience in providing such ambitious items of interest.
The procession with any event like this although recognised as the opening act of our show could easily be described as the icing on the cake. The procession is not an easy thing to arrange these days as we are enforced to oblige to the bye laws of road safety when travelling as a group on the roads throughout the village. However to my friend Keith alias the Green Man, who took the honour of leading the procession I say thank you again for your time and commitment, you have never let us down Keith. Thanks also to Pete and Dave who arranged the decorative tractor and of course all those ‘young’ seniors who rode upon it. Of course the procession again would not be achievable if it wasn’t for the presence of the Community Police who backed up by Steve, enabled those who participated to enjoy a safe and stress less journey.
Last but not least I would like again to pay a special thanks to my colleagues and friends who have formed the Carnival Committee for several years now. I often think that doing our best sometimes is not good enough, but doing what it takes to make the Carnival a success is what we do. To you the Carnival Committee you do that in abundance with sometimes plenty to spare, but we will keep that for another sunny day.
To you all I thank you very very much.
Peter Platt