Welshpool Carnival comeback after jubilee clash
A popular carnival in Mid Wales is to make a comeback – just a year after it was cancelled.
Welshpool Carnival, which regularly draws thousands of people to the town's streets and Maesydre Recreation Ground, was called off last year after organisers failed to agree a date because the event clashed with Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in a busy summer for the town.
Welshpool Town Council has now confirmed the carnival will go ahead on May 27.
Robert Robinson, town clerk, said there would be a parade from the Berriew Street Car Park and the actual carnival event will be held at Maes y Dre as usual.
Last year's cancellation was caused because organisers failed to secure a free weekend in the town's busy summer schedule.
It is usually held on the last Monday in May, which is traditionally a bank holiday, but last year the spring bank holiday was switched to June 4 for the jubilee.
Organisers agreed to cancel the 2012 event after it also clashed with a celebration at nearby Powis Castle.
The carnival has been an annual event in Welshpool since it was revived in the 1960s.
Its president and chairman Tegwyn Evans, the former president of the Football Association of Wales, said when it was cancelled last year: "We really had no choice. With it being a jubilee year it was always going to be difficult to compete with the event at Powis Castle, and we've accepted that.
"We tried to switch dates and hold it on the other bank holiday on May 7, but we couldn't get a parade licence from the police and Powys County Council.
"We looked at holding the carnival on the August bank holiday, but people who normally take part, such as vintage tractor owners, were already booked for other events."
More details on the line-up for this year's Welshpool Carnival are expected to be released in the coming weeks, organisers said today.
