2026 marks the centenary of the Kenilworth Carnival, with the popular community event to return on 27 and 28 June. With preparations underway, Kenilworth historian Robin Leach has shone a light on the history of the 100-year-old event. Find out more about this topic on Robin's website here.

In this centenary year, 2026, this is my final attempt at tying down just how many Carnivals Kenilworth has actually had.

It is not as straightforward as it may seem; it may depend upon a personal choice of definition of the term 'carnival'.

For most people, a carnival has to include a parade of some sort (and yet a procession appears in surprisingly few carnival definitions), but what of the other constituent parts?

Is a carnival queen required? Other forms of fundraising for the same cause? Fancy dress? How much if at all does the general public need to take part? A funfair and/or other entertainment? Does it need to include fundraising at all?  

What actually needs to take place, for it to be called a 'Kenilworth Carnival'?   

Perhaps make a note of your preferences before you read on…….

A brief history of the Kenilworth Carnival

The first Kenilworth Carnival consisted of a parade for collecting cash, dancing to a band in the park, and entertainment for the children of the Working Men's Club that was already an annual event. 

No Queen, no funfair, no other (known) events for raising funds.

The second Carnival, 1927, had a funfair in the park for the first time with an entrance fee charged, and other fundraising events were held throughout the year, but still there was no Queen; the first was chosen in 1928, the last piece of the jigsaw for future carnivals was in place.

In 1940, despite the threat of invasion looming, a carnival was planned and a queen chosen, but at the last minute, days after France surrendered to Germany, the carnival week events were cancelled; there was no parade and no fair. 

However, the Queen's Coronation and a Carnival Ball happened a month late and a door-to-door collection was made. 

So no parade, no fancy dress, but there was a Queen as well as fund raising events; was this a carnival?

All of the above were for the benefit of Warneford Hospital.

It is often said that the carnival was suspended during the war, but in addition to 1940's events, in August 1944 as the threat of invasion all but disappeared, the 'Warneford Hospital Carnival Week' was held along much the same lines as pre-war events including a swimming gala, sports and dancing in the Abbey Fields. 

A 'Miss Kenilworth', Celia Reeves, was chosen, and she and her maids were a focal point at the proceedings; they paraded through the town on a float. 

This was a fund-raising event for the same cause as all pre-war carnivals, with a parade of just the 'Queen', and events in the Abbey Fields, but there was nobody in fancy dress (as far as is known). Was this a carnival?

After the war with the NHS bill in progress, Warneford Hospital no longer had to rely on charitable donations in the same way and so the raison d'etre for Kenilworth's Carnival was gone. 

But in 1947, the British Legion members were instrumental in putting together a carnival for their own funds. 

This was a new set up with a new cause and new organisers, but is counted as a continuation of the earlier events. 

The carnival has run continuously since to the benefit of a wide variety of local charities and other good causes.

Counting the number of queens has its difficulties too, as in 1970 there were two, (see Kenilworth's Forgotten Carnival Queen); although the originally crowned 1970 queen does not appear to have attended any functions, she was still chosen as a queen and her brief reign should be acknowledged.

21st century carnivals

Covid, of course, caused a number of problems.

In 2020 a queen was chosen but the parade was cancelled.

In its place was a competition for decorating houses and places of business, and the mayor walked the route on carnival day to continue the tradition of collecting donations in a fishing net! So a queen, fundraising, but no parade or fair. Was this a carnival?

Having become in 2020 only the second queen to have 'her' parade cancelled, 2021 saw the existing queen enter the record books as the first to be queen for two years, her reign extended in the hope that she would now get a parade. 

Alas, it was not to be, there was no parade, but the queen did judge the second street decoration competition. 

Also, having missed out in 2020, the fair returned to the Abbey Fields and a Picnic in the Park was held. Was this a carnival?

Then finally in 2022, the same queen now in her third year, and breaking more records, finally rode her carnival, and it has run 'as normal' since.

How many carnivals?

So, getting back to the original question, how many Carnivals have there been? 

As I said, it may depend upon your personal interpretation of what constitutes a 'carnival', but this has to be consistent.

The 'official' count is generally accepted as that given by the Carnival Committee; correspondence with the committee confirms they count the 2021 event as a carnival, despite there being no parade, but not it seems 2020 when the mayor walked the route making collections; nor do they include 1940, nor 1944. This allowed them to arrive at the 2023 carnival being the 90th.

Thus the 2026 Centenary Carnival is seen by the committee as being the 93rd. 

Including 2026, there have indeed been 93 parades, but only if the usually unacknowledged 1944 event is included; however, as the Committee includes the non-parade year of 2021 in its count, this would then make 2026 the 94th Carnival, not the 93rd.

There have also been 93 Queens, including the year there were two (1970), and one Queen took part in three events in 2020, 2021 and 2022. 

The first two carnival parades had no Queen (1926 and 1927).

There have been 96 occasions where events have been held, and 95 when fundraising has taken place (other than at a parade). 

The committee's choice as to what constitutes a carnival needs to be defined and consistent.

So, having noted your own preferences at the start, how many carnivals do you think there have been? 

Is all this important? On one level possibly not, but on another it certainly is – we need to know when the 100th Carnival takes place!

Find out more about Kenilworth's history on Robin Leach's website here.

(Header image by John Brightley via Geograph.org.uk)