The history of Essex carnivals and the chaos they caused.

For almost a century, Essex towns and villages have been enlivened by processions and parades. However, in the past, these events have often resulted in carnage.

The summer months witnessed the return of our yearly carnivals, which brought colour, music, and a sense of nostalgia to our streets.

Although the carnival’s golden age, when the entire community turned out for up to a week of jam-packed entertainment, is long gone, many towns and villages continue the tradition by hosting a parade of floats every summer, complete with fairground fun and live entertainment.

Essex has a fascinating history when it comes to carnivals. Carnivals were huge in Essex during the 1920s and 1930s.

Every town staged its own procession, which frequently drew audiences of tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands.

Music: a marching band at the 1935 Colchester Carnival. In the summer of 1935, the severe heat, along with mobs of 300,000 jubilant revellers jammed into every available area to attend the Southend Carnival, resulted in dramatic spectacles never seen before.

The funfair was hampered by high temperatures and frightening situations, with 1,000 people collapsing from the heat.

By this time, the event was in its glory, and the notoriety of the weeklong festivities meant larger throngs flooding into the town via trains.

The situation became so terrible that every available police officer was deployed to the streets.

There were so many people collapsing that fainted bodies had to be transferred ‘crowd-surfing style’ over the heads of others to reach rescue workers.

The Southend Carnival, formerly regarded as “the finest in England,” was frequently so large that it took an hour to pass any given location. It formerly reached five miles in length.

The festival was noteworthy for its fancy dress outfits, which ranged from huge cows to super-sized carrots, Venetian women to Zulu warriors. People clearly enjoyed using their imaginations in fancy dress competitions.

Edna Banks—the ‘Essex Carnival Queen’ 1935 Beauty contests, especially the ‘beautiful legs’ contest, were also popular. In 1938, ladies competing in the competition were carried into the ballroom on Southend Pier with robes over their faces. What’s the reason?

It was all about the legs, and the promoters did not want the judges to be misled by a beautiful face. Maldon’s funfair was also a major attraction.

Every summer, thousands of people lined the town’s streets as the procession made its way around. Tableaux and storytelling floats were a parade highlight, with people working for months to prepare them.

In 1934, a record 20,000 people showed out to see the action in Maldon. Tragically, that same year, a 19-year-old boy called Edward Holland died after falling out of a car while collecting money for the carnival’s charity.

Colchester’s funfair was one of the largest of all, with a grand procession of tableaux, decorated cars, fancy dress and mounted bands, while the evening programme at Castle Park included acrobatic flying, a gymnastic display by army instructors, country dances by 500 schoolchildren, concerts by massed military bands, a military torchlight tattoo, fireworks and replica battle scenes.

From the Essex Archives: Colchester Carnival, July 1979. An annual ritual was to release balloons at the funfair and see where they landed. Some were returned from Belgium and France.

The Witham Carnival did the same, with one of their balloons winding up in Denmark during the 1930s. In 1985, two persons died as a result of mishaps at the Colchester funfair.

A fairground attendant died after becoming stuck beneath the Octopus ride at Castle Park, while a woman died after falling off a funfair float.

Rayleigh Carnival’s events included categories like “best looking dog” and “ugliest dog,” while Canvey Carnival’s three-day festival was noted for its tug of war tournament.

Every year, the Canvey Carnival, which had been running since 1927, gathered money for the blind, while many other carnivals collected money for their local hospital.

In 1947, a stampede broke out at Barking (then part of Essex) when VIP guest and film star Stewart Granger arrived for funfair week.

When it was revealed that the actor would be signing autographs (for one shilling each), fans rushed to the front of the queue, resulting in a massive crush. Six individuals required treatment for leg injuries and bruises.

1968 Southend Carnival Carnivals, of all, were nothing without their courts, which included a queen and princesses.

The duty of carnival queen was serious, and the lucky girl was expected to participate in a variety of activities throughout the year.

It wasn’t always easy sailing, though. In 1949, the red-headed funfair queen of Canvey caused a stir when she abdicated when funfair bosses complained that she was not staying long enough at official festivities.

Shirley Howard, 17, claimed she disliked aspects of her role as funfair queen, which required her to visit all of the island’s bars to collect money.

When barely ten guests showed up for a function one evening, Shirley was expected to’sit there on show’. When the event managers went out to gather a throng of unruly sailors, Shirley had had enough and fled.

The Southend Carnival queen made headlines in 1961 after going missing unexpectedly. The family of Helena Upson, 19, was distraught until the youngster appeared…

in Rotterdam. Helena had decided to travel to Rotterdam, Holland, on the spur of the moment. She had left a message detailing where she was heading, but no one had seen it.

Joan Stock was the Clacton Carnival Queen in 1952. Helena was scheduled to appear at a number of pre-carnival events, and her unplanned vacation did not go over well, but she assured bosses: ‘I don’t know what all the fuss is about. I’ll definitely be back in Southend for the start of the funfair.

In 1934, Canvey clergyman Rev Edward Dobree raised a few feathers when he went on a rant against carnival queens and princesses:

‘I gladly risk being branded a kill joy and a Sniffling Stiggins to proclaim that carnival queens are my particular dislike,’ he remarked.’

The odd mock courts produce additional heartburn and ill feelings among the unsuccessful candidates- and are hardly likely to benefit the fortunate candidates much.’

Nobody paid any heed to the vicar, and the tradition of funfair queens and princesses still exists today.

*numerous carnivals have already taken place this year, but there are numerous more to look forward to. Wickford Carnival on 13 September; Maldon Carnival on 4 October; and Harwich Guy Carnival on 25 October.

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