The city of Chelmsford will be alive with the sights and sounds of carnival this summer as the Chelmsford Festival returns 13 June – 5 July 2020.
Kicking off the festival will be a celebration of radio at the Marconi Gala which will mark 100 years of radio. Commemorating the first radio broadcast, which was made in Chelmsford, there will be a series of special events on 13-14 June to mark the technological breakthrough.
The festival will also include an art trail, special performance of ‘Beyond the Microphone’ at Chelmsford’s Civic Theatre, the return of the much-loved 3foot People Festival for pre-schoolers and Essex Pride, which will celebrate the city’s LGBTQ+ community. Live music will fill Central Park when ‘In the Park’ turns up the volume on Saturday 27 June. Headlining will be ska/ reggae band ‘The Dualers’ who will be fresh from celebrating their recent top ten album, ‘From the Jam’ featuring original Jam bassist Bruce Foxton, and Neville Staples, a founding member of ‘The Specials’, will front his ska band.
The festival will culminate on 5 July with a special ‘green’ carnival which will take to the streets of Chelmsford. Revellers are encouraged to don a pair of roller skates, push a trolley, hop on a go-kart or create a new mode of transport and celebrate the city’s ingenuity and reputation for engineering excellence.
Tony Morrison, the creative director of the festival explains: “Chelmsford has not held a carnival for a long time, so we want its return to be bold, exciting and kind to our environment. We’re looking for community groups and businesses to get with the party spirit, add some colour, noise and razzamatazz, and come along to celebrate and be part of the city’s culture.”
The carnival is also looking for people to get involved at all levels, Tony says: “We are looking for participants across the board, if you can paint, juggle, dance, bang a drum, walk, in fact anything, and you want to be part of this fantastic carnival atmosphere, then please just contact us.”
The Chelmsford Festival is supported by Big Wave PR & Essex 2020 and funded by Chelmsford City Council, One Chelmsford and Arts Council England.
If you are interested in volunteering or sponsoring the carnival then visit: www.chelmsfordcarnival.co.uk To find out more about the whole Chelmsford Festival visit: www.chelmsfordfestival.org
