Feature
Carnival Centenary
EN Editor Saul Leese pops few travel sickness pills before
hitting the rides at Europe’s largest indoor carnival at the SEC
I
RN-BRU Carnival, the
biggest event of its kind
in Scotland, celebrated
its centenary in January.
The event, which attracts
around 163,000 visitors is
organised by QD Events is
basically an indoor Winter
Wonderland – it is huge, less
the rain. You can’t help but
get a little bit overexcited
when you first walk into the
show (Like an big-kid). It’s
dazzlingly bright with noisy
rides whirling and whizzing
around. QD Events MD,
Greg Cherry, my host for
the day printed off scores
of tokens and we proceded
to battle it out on darts,
shooting and Kentucky
Derby racing. He said:
“I love this show, we get
people from every corner
of Scotland. Generation
after generation plan their
day around this event and it
really is a major event in the
year in Glasgow. It is unlike
anything I have done in the
past”.
He’s right too. On my way
from the airport to SEC,
the taxi driver asked me if I
was heading to the SEC for
the carnival. He explained
that everyone in his family
were going that evening and
it was a special occasion
because his grandson was
going for the first time.
The Carnival opened in
1919 and was created as
an event for the people of
Glasgow after the First
World War. It was originally
held in the Kelvin Hall and
during the Second World
War the venue was used as
a factory for barrage and
convoy balloons. After the
war, the Carnival reopened
in 1947-48 and was a six-
week show including a large
circus. The circus, which
was always part of the event
stopped in 1985 when it
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