We are already turning our thoughts to 2008 so please get in touch with any thoughts or comments on this year and how it went...
What worked really well?
What did you enjoy?
What didn't work so well?
What would you want to see in future years?
What do you not want to see or hear again next year?
Who do you think should be performing?
Who wasn't there that should have been?
Any comments, gripes, moans, praise, suggestions to this blog or carnival@eastoxford.com
If you don't tell us we can't make it happen!
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10 comments:
Wow what a great day ! You pulled off the weather and the organisation - congratulations on a big success - can't believe you do it with such a small team. I'd like to see the dance stage back again in large scale form as there are so many talented young people who want to take part - the area this year was really hard to dance on cos it was on a slope... thought the kids in the procession were great - good to see Messy Jam from Barton there for the first time. Well done !
Congratulations, Cowley Road Carnival has come back better than ever. I always find the procession strangely moving, and take a curious pride in it even though I dont work to make it happen. I especially liked the giant cycle bugs, which were fascinating and clever.
It seemed to me there were fewer 'imported' groups in the procession than before, which I think is much more in the spirit of the CRC. The homegrown aspects of CRC are, to my mind, the real glory of it.
Street food was sublime, especially the chicken at the Hi-Lo.
The Oxen Carts were also a real treat and a perfect addition to the CRC. Perhaps the street got too crowded to accommodate them as the afternoon rolled on, but it was a pleasure to send the children off in a cart and give them some independence for a few minutes.
My daughter was bewitched by the Teddy Bears' Picnic and it was heartening to learn that Barnardos recovered many more bears after so many were ruined in the flood.
However, I think there are very few oases for those of us who dont enjoy gut-busting sound systems. Most of the amplified music at the CRC is pretty awful, and it all blends together like it does at St Giles Fair. It makes it impossible to chat with friends you bump into along the way. Groups like Horns A-Plenty and the drumming bands offer something poetic and engaging, and we really enjoyed these performances. We'd have stayed longer if the amplified music didn't attempt to turn the whole of Cowley Road into a cacaphanous nightclub. Perhaps the loud stuff could take place in areas that were spread farther apart with fewer stages, to keep it coherent and more of a focused activity.
Also, I'd like to see professional street performers less preoccupied with invading people's personal space in the traditional sociopathic street mime way. Although the four tall guys were a terrific ensemble, none of the people I was with enjoyed being singled out by them. Street performers such as Quidam actually inspire people to follow them around and can be seen at a distance. The mechanical horse that rode through the CRC last year was also charming and wasn't operated by a person who used street performance as an excuse to invade people's personal space.
But these are minor quibbles which I only mention in case you were thinking along these lines as well. The CRC is becoming Oxford's finest cultural event, leaving St Giles in the dust. Bravo.
Ted Dewan
Great atmosphere and good mix of people. Want to be part of it again next year!
From the team at Science Oxford
Lovely day, the weather held out.
Shame people seem to put their prices up, and want to make profit out of the community. The chocolate fountain stall was a complete rip off, but very attractive to children.
Well done to the Princes Street community centre for offering FREE face painting, although there was a queue.
There seemed to be very little security, or police presence, which were needed when gangs of teenagers seemed to start gathering by KFC at about 5 ish, and it seemed there was no one around to disperse them for some time.
The procession should be on later in the afternoon as this is when the carnival seems to get really busy, so more people will get to see it.
look forward to next year.
The best procession ever in my opinion, lovely visual stuff like the bike bugs and a greater sense of performance rather than a cheery stroll up the middle of the road!
I was amazed that the audience for the procession was as large as ever despite the threatening rain. It's a real sign that there are thousands of people in East Oxford who make attending carnival. It has quickly become a corner stone of the diverse East Oxford community.
The party atmosphere on Cowley road was louder and stronger than ever before. The presence of all those sound systems certainly made it clear that it was carnival day. I wonder how many people made it down to the phoenix stage outside the Star on Rectory road or into the Restore gardens. Still, it would be nice to provide more quiet places for lovers of peace and quiet the chill out.
The parents who came along to take part in the procession with my school group had the biggest smiles I have ever seen and they are already talking about how to build on this year's performance.
Sad to see those anarchist Morris Dancers from Bartlemas back again for a third year. Will they never learn that deconstructing the ancient traditions of rural England, in such a way as to use the tools of the dialectic to challenge or undermine the dialectic itself, is neither big nor clever.
Which element for next year?
It's a wonderful community event and great fun. Brilliant to have access to photos to use with classes too. I agree with the plea for less competition between sound systems.
Thanks for organising it !
Best carnival yet, and I've played at every one. Big up to one and all.
Aidan
COWLEY ROAD CARNIVAL WAS GREAT, ALTHOUGH THE PERFORMERS NEEDED TO BE ON PROPER STAGES,THE DANCE TROUPE MESSYJAM I THOUGHT HAD VERY HIGH STANDARDS AND WERE UNBELEIVEABLEY GOOD ONE OF THE MEMBERS OF THAT GROUP TIANA.J. SEEMS TO POP UP EVERYWHERE A TRUELY GIFTED YOUNG LADY.
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it was great to see every one so happy, i wasnt at all surprised to see The Messyjam Dancers who were brillent and had a mass of supporters,well done to all of them their seemed to be many more of them this year,well done to the teachers and the older dancers,will be looking forward to next year....well done to the organisers excellent carnival 08......
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