Sandown Set To Launch Island Carnival Season

Sandown is the place to be on Saturday (July 26) as five weeks of colourful Island parades get under way in the seaside town.

Marching bands, spectacular floats and eye-catching costumes are all part of an Isle of Wight tradition that dates back to Victorian times and includes some of the oldest carnivals in the country. 

Organisers advise spectators to arrive in good time to see the popular Main Carnival which heads up the High Street from the Library at 7pm before winding its way through the back streets.

Earlier in the day, the town’s Children’s Carnival sets off at 11am from the Pier and heads to Sandham Gardens for hours of family fun with Stevo & Kai and Soundwaves Entertainment.

The routes for both Sandown parades can be found on the map.

This year, East Cowes joins Sandown, Newport, Shanklin, Ventnor, St Helen’s and Ryde as the towns which take turns to stage parades in the weeks up to the end of August.

Sandown Carnival chair Paul Coueslant says:

"We can’t wait to welcome people to Sandown on Saturday.

"The town has been putting on carnivals since 1889 and there’s always excitement when the summer parades draw near.

"We’re pleased to make all our events free to watch, but they do cost us money to put on and we welcome cash donations on the day or at sandowncarnival.com/donate for online card payments.

"But most of all, we hope everyone watching and taking part has a lot of fun."

ALL PHOTO CREDIT: Paul Bird/Sandown Carnival