First details released for Harborough’s 2023 Carnival – with ‘going green’ being the running theme

The date for the 2023 carnival will be Saturday June 10 and will take place on Symington’s Rec Ground beginning with the 10k Carnival Run followed by the traditional float procession through the town.

This year, the date of the carnival coincides with the The Great Big Green Week – a national celebration of community action to tackle climate change and protect nature.

To that end – the 2023 carnival will kick off this awareness week and will be known as The Great Big Green Carnival, with ‘Green’ being the theme running through the whole day.

Paul Milligan, chairman of the Market Harborough Carnival Committee, said: “The Market Harborough Carnival has always been about the community, and we saw that more than ever last year when the town came together to save the carnival.

“In line with The Great Big Green Week, we want to use the carnival to help raise awareness of the responsibility we have to the community around us – to help spread the message about climate change, and what actions we can all take to help protect our environment.

“The Carnival Committee is only too aware of the challenges of taking steps to make the carnival as green as possible, we know it’s never going to be carbon zero, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to make it environmentally friendly. Last year, we planted 500 trees, and we’re working with Sustainable Harborough Community and other green organisations as part of our planning to try and implement initiatives to make the event more sustainable.”

The committee has plans to incorporate green into the carnival as much as possible, with a ‘Green Street’ on the Showground – with green traders and organisations undertaking demonstrations and showcasing their offerings.

All floats will be invited to decorate their trucks - once again kindly donated by Stephen Sanderson Transport Ltd – in line with the theme.

Paul added: “We’re looking for the community to help us out once again, we want to ensure we’re recycling as much waste as possible this year, as well as other initiatives we can do to help the environment. Anyone who has any ideas how we can achieve this together, we would really encourage them to get in touch.”

Once again, the Carnival Run will take place after a successful sold out launch last year – a 10k race to be run through the streets of Market Harborough coinciding with the float procession. Entries for the run will shortly be open to those runners who took part last year – their invites will land in inboxes shortly. There will be a further wave for the general public before the end of the year too. For more information, follow @harborough10k on Facebook.

Further details of the carnival will be released over the next few months, those interested are invited to follow @marketharboroughcarnival on Facebook and Instagram.

More details of the Market Harborough Carnival can be found on the carnival’s website: www.harboroughcarnival.co.uk

The committee is also looking for volunteers for the day, as well as anyone interested in sponsorship opportunities. Email [email protected] for more information.