THE PENARTH Summer Festival is promising to be a fantastic weekend for local residents.

Penarth Town Council has announced an exciting programme of events that will culminate with Carnival Day on Saturday, July 19.

They have released the following statement:

There are many standout events in this year’s Summer Festival that you can look forward to, including; the Wizard of Oz , Murder Mystery with PODS (both Paget Rooms), Treasure Hunt in the Athletic Field, Belle Vue Music Festival, Food Festival (Kymin), Cliff top Artists, Penarth Festival Children’s Day, Summer Festival Rock ‘n’ Roll Ball, the new ‘Open Studios Day’ where local talented artists open their workshops, Fishing Competition, Chamber Music Festival (Penarth Pier Pavilion), Model Railway, Dance Shows, Belly Dance workshops, Geology Talks, Historic Walks, Dance Showcase, Penarth Library Quiz, Inter-School Athletic Competition, Choir Concerts, The Beatles and much more.

A little history about the Penarth Summer Festival.

The very first Summer Festival, or Holiday Week as it was then called, took place in the Summer of 1965 and we will mark its 50th Anniversary next year. However, prior to 1965 and going back as far as the 1890 the Sailing Regatta had been one of the standout events during the Summer Months in Penarth. The event had been very successful and The Council at the time decided to broaden its appeal by turning the event into a Community Event that celebrated the Community as a whole and the Summer Festival was born.

We are very pleased that the Yacht Club’s Sailing Regatta is back with the Summer Festival programme of events once again.

Carnival Day

There are so many things that have been arranged for Carnival Day that it will be difficult to list them all but you really are in a treat. With the Radio Road show kicking off the event at 1pm and local traders supplying the food and refreshments will set the day up perfectly. You can look forward to great and interesting styles of music from the stage, dance acts, interesting stalls to peruse, Fun Fair, Crazy Golf, Samba Galez, the Carnival Day Parade, Classic Cars, BMX Team Extreme, Punch and Judy, Amateur Radio.

Penarth Water Ski Club will entertain the crowds once more in front of the esplanade. The Downhill Derby will be taking a break for this year to enable us to work on a new approach to the event and will be back bigger and better than ever. As event organiser, I would like clarify an incorrect and inflammatory point made in Penarth Times of last week stating that the Downhill Derby was cancelled due to a clash with the sailing regatta. This is simply not true, in fact the yacht club had made every effort to encourage the event to take place. We, as organisers, took the view that the Downhill Derby needed a new impetus and fresh approach from previous years and we very much look forward to giving you the event again next year.

You will be pleased to learn that the RAF Falcons Parachute Display Team jump from the aircraft at 3pm and display before landing on the cliff top at roughly 3.15pm. The Royal Air Force Falcons are the British military’s premier parachute Team and have been for over 50 years. On Carnival Day you will see one of their sensational world famous displays including the non-contact canopy stack. Please make sure that you give yourself enough time to arrive in time and then back to the Esplanade for the other RAF displays including the Sea-King and Tutor Displays later that afternoon. The Schedule of events will be printed in the programme and available on the day.

With an interesting mix of locally talented bands seeing us through to the fireworks off the pier at 10pm on a perfect sunny evening will frame Carnival Day faultlessly.

Free Bus

Please make use of the Carnival Day Free Bus that will be in use throughout the day. Just hail and ride or Gather at the bus stops on route to make full use of the service.

Look out for your Summer Festival Programme from the week commencing, June 23, and it will also be inserted into the Penarth Times on, June 26.