THE Ilminster Children’s Carnival 2023 took place on Saturday (September 30) featuring a “great parade through the town”.

The Mayor of Ilminster, Cllr Leanne Taylor, also attended the event and presented the awards to the children.

A spokesperson said: “We would like to say a massive thank you to all the entries who participated in this year’s procession.

“We were excited to see more entries compared to last year and thank them all for putting on a great parade through the town.

“The procession was led by the Ilminster Fire Engine who helped us with our collection followed by Ilminster Diamond Majorettes who put on a great show.

“We are very grateful to Ilminster Tesco who donated sweets for the children taking part in the procession.

“We hope everyone enjoyed watching the procession and would like to thank everyone for donating.

“The Mayor of Ilminster was kind enough to attend the event and helped to present the awards to the children, as well as the Mayor’s Choice cup.

“The Ilminster Carnival Grand Procession 2023 will take place this Saturday, October 7.

“The carnival will start at 7.15pm and will take around one hour to pass at any one point along the route.

“The procession will start at Bay Hill, then continues onto East Street, Silver Street, West Street, Station Road, and finishes on the roundabout near The Stonemasons pub.

“Road closures for the event will come into effect at 2.30pm from Boxstone Cross to the junction of Bay Hill/Townsend for the procession line-up. Kingstone to Bay Hill (inbound) will also be closed from 2.30pm.

“All other roads will close from 6pm: Bay Hill, Butts, East Street, Market Square, Silver Street, West Street, Station Road & Riec-Sur-Belon.

“We have an official Ilminster Carnival car park located at The Meadows/Summervale Surgery car park along Canal Way at £4 per car.”

Results 

  • Class 2 – Single entry up to 16 years old on foot 1st – (Halfway Cup) Flynn Newbery – Status Crow 2nd – Sholto de Silva – Harry Potter 3rd – Isolde de Silva – The Little Mermaid
  • Class 3 – Pairs up to 16 years old on foot No Entries
  • Class 4 – Group of 3 - 6 children on foot No Entries
  • Class 5 – (Ilminster Carnival Cup) Group of 7 or more children on foot (School / Youth Groups etc) 1st – Ilminster Brownies – Inspirational Females
  • Class 6 – (Paula White Plate) Individual or pair with non-motorised vehicle including pushchairs bikes etc. (up to 16 years old) 1st – Pickle CC – Ooh Arr
  • Class 7 – (Norman Bellew Trophy) Group of 3 or more with non-motorised vehicle including pushchairs, bikes etc. (up to the age of 16 years old) 1st – Jamm CC – Dragons of Colour
  • Originality – Chard and Ilminster News cup: - Ilminster Brownies – Inspirational Females
  • Spirit of Carnival – Tony Goverd Cup: - Pickle CC – Ohh Arr
  • Best overall individual costume – Barbara Lee Cup: - Flynn Newbery – Status Crow
  • Most colourful entry: - Jamm CC – Dragons of Colour
  • Mayor’s Choice: - Ilminster Brownies – Inspirational Females
  • Overall Runner Up – Daido Cup: - Ilminster Brownies – Inspirational Females
  • Overall – Chard and Ilminster News cup (taken from 1st prize winners): - Jamm CC – Dragons of Colour

The photo gallery above shows photos from the event. All photographs are from the Ilminster Carnival Committee.