Carnival
Cowley Road Carnival 2016 hailed as best event ever !
By Paige Warman Organisers have hailed Cowley Road Carnival 2016 as the best yet as the community turned out in tens of thousands to enjoy a packed programme of activities and events with the most colourful and biggest procession in its history .
Over 800 people from 37 groups were in the parade which was themed ‘ All the World ’ s a Stage ’, taken from Shakespeare ’ s ‘ Love ’ s Labours Lost ’ and many of the groups picked a Shakespeare play for their costumes and structures in the procession .
St Barnabas School from Jericho were at the carnival for the first time , and took their theme from ‘ the Tempest ’. They made a boat from recycled carrier bags . Karen Donaghey , teacher at the school commented : “ We are an eco-school and are doing ‘ The Tempest ’ because we thought that we would make seaweed out of carrier bags to highlight the fact that thousands of sea creatures are killed by plastic every year . ”
St Andrews School in Headington interpreted the theme differently by depicting areas of the world such as deserts , the arctic , and the rainforest . Jason Clarke , Deputy Head at the school said : “ We are showing the world as a stage and all the people inside from all walks of life .”
The Lord Mayor Councillor Mohammed Altaf-Khan was at the head of the procession resplendent atop an amazingly decorated mechanical elephant . Before taking his place he said : “ I think it is a fantastic event which brings all the community together . It is one of the
26 www . theocelot . co . uk