Sandown Carnival have confirmed that 2020’s children’s, main and illuminated carnivals have been cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
Following the Prime Minister’s announcement yesterday evening that lockdown will continue into July, the committee has decided to call time on this year’s events.
Whilst the events don’t take place until July and August, there is a lot of preparation work that goes on behind the scenes in the week and months beforehand – all of which cannot take place at this moment in time.
Earlier today it was announced that Newport Carnival have cancelled their events, joining Shanklin and Cowes Carnival committees who cancelled all of their events earlier this year. Ryde Carnival is expected to follow suit.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Sandown Carnival has said:
“After much thought and careful consideration, and following the statement issued by the PM yesterday, the committee of Sandown Carnival Association have, with much regret, decided to cancel this year’s Sandown Carnival programme of events.
“Unfortunately, we cannot ensure that Social Distancing, which may well still be in place for the Carnival Season, can be managed during our events. We have to consider everyone’s safety as our top priority. As we cannot ensure the complete safety of our volunteers, our queens and spectators at this time, we have reluctantly had to take the decision to cancel.
“However, following the huge success of our New Year’s Day fireworks to mark the start of 2020, we very much hope that we will be able to kick off our programme for 2021 in the same way by once again organising a New Year’s Day Fireworks Spectacular.
Article continues below this advertisement “Thank you to everyone who has supported us in the past and we look forward to celebrating in true carnival style next year. Take care & stay safe”.
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