Come and join the carnival!
It’s the third year of Douglas Carnival and this year the focus is on the parade and floats.
The action takes place along Douglas seafront on Sunday from 3pm with the parade, Colour Me Rainbow fun run and Bins of Glory wheelie bin race.
Douglas town centre manager Oliver Cheshire told Island Life: ‘People can expect to see the unexpected. There will be floats, music, segways, Vikings, pyramids, Minions, cows, trumpets, dancers, super heroes and at least one Mad Hatter.
‘Why not join in the fun by getting dressed up yourself?’
The floats will congregate at the bottom of Summerhill ahead of judging from 2.15pm.
Judging the entries will be Chris Pycroft, Revd John Coleman of St Ninian’s Church, Douglas Mayor John Skinner and James Davis of Manx Radio.
There will be prizes awarded in 10 different categories from £250, for best float, down to £50.
The carnival parade will then start making its way along the seafront at 3pm,
Douglas Mayor and Mayoress John and Gill Skinner will be travelling with Minis from the Manx Transport Enthusiasts’ Association.
Carnival King is Ballakermeen High School head boy Sam Lancaster. And Carnival Queen is Ballakermeen deputy head girl Kathryn Sharman.
Bands taking part are Douglas Town Band and Onchan Silver Band while Onchan Entertainers, Move It Dance and the Youth Arts Centre are sure to be entertaining.
Other participating organisations and groups are the Isle of Man Chinese Association, Mad Hatters Tea Party, Eastern Young Farmers’ super heroes, Bad Vikings and the Manx Transport Trust.
Also starting at 3pm is Hospice Isle of Man’s third annual Colour Me Rainbow.
The start is at the Castlemona Arcade and participants will go the 1.3km to the Jubliee Clock/Bottleneck car park where there will be a paint party.
Registered participants have each been given a white T-shirt to wear and told to turn up prepared to get splattered with colour – all in a good cause.
The entrants in the Bins of Glory race have each been supplied with a wheelie bin, which can be modified to make it their own.
The race will run from the War Memorial on Harris promenade to the Jubilee Clock and Oliver insists that it’s a non-contact event. The start time is 3pm.
There’s even official Douglas Carnival ice cream thanks to Davison’s.
The winning flavours were Lemon Sherbert, designed by Henry Bloom Noble School pupil Kydn Anderson and Carnival Jelly Tot Treat, designed by St Mary’s School pupil Daisy Staley.
Oliver said: ‘It will be a genuinely fun afternoon for all the family – there’s something for everyone. It’s getting better and better each year. There’s no after party this year, all of our effort has gone into the couple of hours.’
He added: ‘It promises to be an amazing, fun afternoon and I would encourage everyone to get down.’
Visit www.douglascarnival.im