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The town’s oldest and most popular event has been cancelled for the first time since 1947, organisers have confirmed.
One of the county’s largest processions, the Herne Bay Carnival was expected to snake its way along the seafront on Saturday, August 8 – continuing a tradition that has lasted 140 years.
But coordinators of the parade say they decided to scrap the crowd-pleaser during crunch talks on Tuesday amid concerns about the spread of coronavirus.
Carnival chairman Andy Birkett said: “It is now clear that issues caused by Covid-19 are not going away any time soon and having taken advice from a variety of sources we feel it really would be irresponsible to hold the event this year.
“Bearing in mind what has been endured thus far to get to this point and how the potential for large crowds gathering even in the open air we would not want this to be an instigator for a possible spike in the virus and is something we dare not contemplate.”
He added: “To not hold a Herne Bay Carnival seemed unthinkable as we moved into 2020 but we feel that we’d be dishonoring all those that have worked so hard on the frontline to contain the virus, passed away or have been caused hardship either financially or emotionally being kept away from loved ones to hold this year’s series of summer events culminating in Carnival Day.”
Mr Birkett hopes the carnival will be back “bigger and better” on August 14 next year. He hopes the rules may allow for an event to be held around Christmas.
But in a further blow to the town, this year’s Kent Tribute Festival has also been cancelled as organisers fear the atmosphere would be sterilised by current social distancing measures.
Scheduled for August 30 at Herne Bay Junior School, the annual crowd-pleaser was set to attract about 1,000 people to enjoy renditions of Michael Jackson and Queen hits.
“I don’t think there’s any time for restrictions to be released to allow a gathering of 1,000 people singing together and hugging,” organiser Gerald McCarthy explained.
“I left making a decision on it for as along as possible because we wanted to give it a chance – but as we got through June it was becoming clear social distancing won’t be lifted in time.
“We wanted people to have the festival experience – we didn’t want people around the stage having to wear masks or be restricted to bubbles.”
Mr McCarthy says the event has been pushed back to next summer, with tickets for the original date still valid.
The rescheduled concert will retain the same line-up.
Acts booked include Oasish, Bon Giovi and Michael Jackson tribute Navi – but will be held at Strode Park in Lower Herne Road.
“Artists have been really hard hit. The people we would have at this event are at the high end, and they’ve been left with nothing,” Mr McCarthy added.
“It’s horrendous. The entertainment industry’s been hit really, really hard.
“This isn’t an experience I would want to repeat, if I’m honest.”
"We wanted people to have the festival experience – we didn’t want people around the stage having to wear masks or be restricted to bubbles..."
The news comes just three months after it was revealed that the Herne Bay Festival was scrapped as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
Organisers of the month-long event said at the time that the pandemic provided too much uncertainty for them to begin preparations for the summer extravaganza.
