Diss Carnival – A day of Hollywood magic!
21 June 2023
Diss took centre stage on Sunday 11th June 2023 where thousands lined the streets to celebrate this year’s theme: ‘Diss Goes To Hollywood!’
More than 30 floats and walking groups partied through Diss Town Centre after setting off from the high school. The creativity and hard work that went into decorating floats and costumes never fails to wow us! As always, the community spirit was incredible, with all generations coming together to celebrate Carnival. The crowds cheered and waved, and the weather beamed down on us all day!
Mayor of Diss, councillor Kieran Murphy, Honoured Citizen Gabrielle Pagan and the Mayor’s Cadets were very impressed by all the entries but finally settled on 3 award winners: Best Dressed Float to Merryfields Playschool, Best Walking Group to The Red Hatters and lastly, the Pete Gillings Cup for the Most Flamboyant Float went to the Garden Project Team. 1st Place for the Window Dressing competition went to Leslie Ward Gifts, 2nd Place to Dipple & Conway and Best Charity Window went to Oxfam. Well done all!
The fun continued on the Park for an afternoon of entertainment, stalls and activities. Event compere, Paul Preston-Mills, was on hand to keep us informed. With main arena shows from Sam The Magic Man, Foolhardy Circus, Academy of Movement Superheroes and Tribe-All fitness. There was something for everyone.
With over 60 stalls to browse too, including foodies, crafters, local businesses and charities, visitors expressed how enjoyable it was to have so much variety this year. Children loved learning their own circus skills with the Foolhardy guys and Storybook Photobooths provided a retro Hollywood photobooth experience so visitors could embrace the glitz and glam of this year’s theme! Larry Gray’s funfair entertained with their great variety of rides and have-a-go stalls.
It’s important we also thank the long list of local businesses who sponsored the event – without their support, Carnival simply couldn’t go ahead. Thank you!
The Carnival Committee, who had been planning the event since September said, “We were immensely proud to put on such a spectacular free event for the Town and were amazed with the turnout, which makes organising such an event worthwhile. The weather was exceptionally hot, which sadly cancelled the Fun Dog Show but otherwise, it was a fantastic day for the community. Thanks to everyone involved in making this year happen and an even bigger thank you to everyone who attended the day!”
The Carnival Committee will kick-start planning for next year’s event in September – if you’d like to join them, please get in touch by emailing carnival@diss.gov.uk
