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Photo: All Saints Primary School pupils Thomas Babb, Stanley Furniss and Nellie Jo Furniss are joined by Ilkley Carnival Chairman Andrew Stacey and John Greenwood in launching the ‘Our Planet’ theme for the 2020 Ilkley Carnival.
Ilkley Carnival announces environmental theme
In recognition of the importance of environmental issues Ilkley Carnival has announced that its theme for the 2020 event will be ‘Our Planet’.
The carnival has been moved this year from its traditional May Day Bank Holiday to Sunday 3 May, this is due to the holiday being moved to Friday 8 May to mark the 75th anniversary of VE day.
Since the date change, the Tour de Yorkshire have announced both the men’s race and amateur sportive will come through Ilkley that day. The Real Food market are due to hold their monthly market on the Grove that day, which is normally on the parade route. Discussions are underway with Bradford Council and organisers regarding timings and routes to make sure all events can run concurrently.
The choice of theme was the result of asking the community for ideas for future events. The Carnival Committee recognised the many groups involved in environmental projects across the district and wanted to raise the profile and bring them together to benefit our community.
2019 was another record year for Ilkley Carnival which saw over £15,000 given away to local groups, bringing the total raised for the community to £70,000 in the last five years. But an important role of the Carnival has also been to raise the awareness of local issues and that was an important factor in the choice of theme this year.
Andrew Stacey, Chair of the Ilkley Carnival Committee, said: “For the last three years one of our main sponsors has been Aireborough Skip Hire of Yeadon and so we have been aware of the importance of minimising our impact on the environment. All of the waste on the Carnival showground is carefully segregated into recyclables and renewables and 80% of it is recycled. However, we want to do more and share the vision of our Mayor and Town Council in addressing environmental issues within our wonderful town”.
The Carnival is already talking to several local companies and organisations and plans a series of exciting initiatives leading up to the family fun day.
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