Ryde Carnival has been crowned the UK’s most popular carnival in an online poll run by rental giants, HolidayLettings.co.uk.
The TripAdvisor-owned company has been running a competition to find the country’s favourite carnival. 11 locations were in the running but it was Ryde Carnival that came out on top with 4,365 votes – some 500 votes ahead of Wells Carnival who received 3,867 votes. Bridgewater Carnival came in third with 1,149 votes.
Ryde was the only Island Carnival to be chosen for the competition which meant that the other 7 Island carnival associations (Cowes, Newport, Freshwater, Sandown, Shanklin, St Helens, and Ventnor) could get behind Ryde and help them secure the win on behalf of the Isle of Wight.
A week ago, Ryde Carnival were 800 votes behind Wells Carnival but things really took off when Lyn Blackledge joined the Ryde Carnival team to help promote the competition. Regular live streams on Facebook over the final days of voting helped bolster the votes cast.
Liz Allen, Chair of Ryde Carnival Association, has said:
“The Ryde Carnival Team were thrilled to hear we had been nominated for the award and our work recognised at a national level. But we have been completely blown away by the support we have received from so many people that has enabled us to win.
“This clearly shows how much our Carnival, and those organised by the other Carnival Associations on the Island, mean to people and why it is so important that, as a community, we continue to support the events and the volunteers who make sure they happen every year. It also demonstrates the role that Carnival can have in attracting visitors to the Island ‘home of the UKs most popular Carnival’.”
The timing couldn’t be better as next week is Ryde Carnival Week when Ryde Carnival celebrates its 130th Anniversary:
• Ryde Childrens’ procession – Wednesday 29th August at 15:00
• Ryde Main procession – Thursday 30th August at 18:30
• Ryde Illuminated procession – Saturday 1st September at 20:30
Ryde Carnival expects to receive the official confirmation from holidaylettings.co.uk that they have been crowned the ‘UK’s Most Popular Carnival 2018’ and to receive their award certificate to commemorate their win later on today (Wednesday).
