Hastings Old Town Week
Encyclopedia
Hastings Old Town Week is an annual summer event celebrated in the Old Town
of Hastings
, East Sussex
. The Old Town week typically occurs during the first week of August and is officially opened on Winkle Island
, during the week events such as concerts, street parties, charity races and Morris Dancing take place. The week ends with the Old Town Carnival procession, which contains 'floats', dancers, majorettes and marching bands and ends with a firework display in the evening.
The carnival was first started in 1968 after Old Town residents felt the original Hastings Carnival should have included the Old Town in its route and decided to set up their own carnival. The Old Town event gradually got more popular and bigger, whilst the Hastings event became less popular and eventually stopped. As a parting gift the Old Town organisers were allowed to title the Carnival Queen "Miss Hastings".
s and a top hat
.
Bike Race is another race where the entrant has to ride up the steepest road in the Old Town, using a Butchers Bike in the quickest time possible, without taking their buttocks off the saddle. This event is done in memory of a local fisherman who died during the Great Storm of 1987
.
Other events include the Pram Race, Best Dressed Window Competition, the High Street Party, Old Town Film Yearly Show, the Trawler Parade, Pirates Day and the concluding Carnival Procession.
Winning entrants crowned as Miss Hastings (carnival queen) and pincesses over the last years are as follows.
Miss Hastings 1999 - Leah Newman with princesses Stephanie Bowers and Elizabeth Taylor.
Miss Hastings 2000 - Leah Newman with princesses Vicky Griffiths and Lisa O'Connell.
Miss Hastings 2001 - Sophie Foster with princesses Amanda Hills and Lucie Hide.
Miss Hastings 2002 - Lucie Hide with princesses Eugenie Demeza and Carrie Skelton.
Miss Hastings 2003 - Krystal Finch with princesses April Hollister, Charlotte Vaughan and Lydia Hall.
Miss Hastings 2004 - Tracy Bryant with princesses Lorna Hollister, Lydia Hall and Lucy Ansell.
Miss Hastings 2005 - Lydia Hall with princesses Lucy Ansell, Amy Fuller and Lisa Jones.
Miss Hastings 2006 - Amy Fuller with princesses Gemmaine Baughurst, Suzanna Milton and Lucy Hide.
Miss Hastings 2007 - Kelly Cornford with princesses Emily Zervakis, Amy Baines and Gemmaine Baughurst.
Miss Hastings 2008 - Gemmaine Baughurst with princesses Cassie Abbott and Keira Donnelly.
Miss Hastings 2009 - Lara Duke with princesses Zoe Waters and Victoria Lavender.
Miss Hastings 2010 - Tamara Gates with princesses Nicole Harvey, Francesca Louise and Kemi Seetarum.
Miss Hastings 2011 - April Grant with princesses Lucy Richardson and Nicole Harvey and also Deputy Miss Hastings Tamara Gates
Hastings Old Town
Hastings Old Town is an area in Hastings roughly corresponding to the extent of the town prior to the nineteenth century. It lies mainly within the eastern-most valley of the current town...
of Hastings
Hastings
Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900....
, East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
. The Old Town week typically occurs during the first week of August and is officially opened on Winkle Island
Winkle Island
Winkle Island is at the heart of Hastings Old Town in East Sussex, England, in the United Kingdom. The island is part of a unique area in Hastings called 'The Stade' and the stretch of shingle beach from which Hastings' famous fishing fleet has been launched every day for over a thousand...
, during the week events such as concerts, street parties, charity races and Morris Dancing take place. The week ends with the Old Town Carnival procession, which contains 'floats', dancers, majorettes and marching bands and ends with a firework display in the evening.
The carnival was first started in 1968 after Old Town residents felt the original Hastings Carnival should have included the Old Town in its route and decided to set up their own carnival. The Old Town event gradually got more popular and bigger, whilst the Hastings event became less popular and eventually stopped. As a parting gift the Old Town organisers were allowed to title the Carnival Queen "Miss Hastings".
Events
Seaboot Race is a race in which each entrant has to run from the start/finish line around a lobster and back, wearing seabootSeaboot
Seaboots are a type of waterproof boot designed for use on deck on board boats and ships in bad weather, to keep the legs dry, and to avoid slipping on the wet rolling deck....
s and a top hat
Top hat
A top hat, beaver hat, high hat silk hat, cylinder hat, chimney pot hat or stove pipe hat is a tall, flat-crowned, broad-brimmed hat, predominantly worn from the latter part of the 18th to the middle of the 20th century...
.
Bike Race is another race where the entrant has to ride up the steepest road in the Old Town, using a Butchers Bike in the quickest time possible, without taking their buttocks off the saddle. This event is done in memory of a local fisherman who died during the Great Storm of 1987
Great Storm of 1987
The Great Storm of 1987 occurred on the night of 15/16 October 1987, when an unusually strong weather system caused winds to hit much of southern England and northern France...
.
Other events include the Pram Race, Best Dressed Window Competition, the High Street Party, Old Town Film Yearly Show, the Trawler Parade, Pirates Day and the concluding Carnival Procession.
Winning entrants crowned as Miss Hastings (carnival queen) and pincesses over the last years are as follows.
Miss Hastings 1999 - Leah Newman with princesses Stephanie Bowers and Elizabeth Taylor.
Miss Hastings 2000 - Leah Newman with princesses Vicky Griffiths and Lisa O'Connell.
Miss Hastings 2001 - Sophie Foster with princesses Amanda Hills and Lucie Hide.
Miss Hastings 2002 - Lucie Hide with princesses Eugenie Demeza and Carrie Skelton.
Miss Hastings 2003 - Krystal Finch with princesses April Hollister, Charlotte Vaughan and Lydia Hall.
Miss Hastings 2004 - Tracy Bryant with princesses Lorna Hollister, Lydia Hall and Lucy Ansell.
Miss Hastings 2005 - Lydia Hall with princesses Lucy Ansell, Amy Fuller and Lisa Jones.
Miss Hastings 2006 - Amy Fuller with princesses Gemmaine Baughurst, Suzanna Milton and Lucy Hide.
Miss Hastings 2007 - Kelly Cornford with princesses Emily Zervakis, Amy Baines and Gemmaine Baughurst.
Miss Hastings 2008 - Gemmaine Baughurst with princesses Cassie Abbott and Keira Donnelly.
Miss Hastings 2009 - Lara Duke with princesses Zoe Waters and Victoria Lavender.
Miss Hastings 2010 - Tamara Gates with princesses Nicole Harvey, Francesca Louise and Kemi Seetarum.
Miss Hastings 2011 - April Grant with princesses Lucy Richardson and Nicole Harvey and also Deputy Miss Hastings Tamara Gates
External links
- Carnival Week Events
- Official Carnival Site
- Hastings Borough Council
- Carnival Photographs
- Old Town Carnival Week Site Carnival program, entry forms and related information. Created by the Official Old Town Week photographer: photographs are also for sale on the site.