When you spend months working towards an event, it is very difficult to judge it properly while you are still in the middle of it.
There is always another email to answer, another problem to solve, another phone call to make, another decision waiting to be made.
Then suddenly it is Sunday morning, the gates are open, the first vendors, then visitors are arriving and the Carnival you have been planning for months is happening around you.
And this year, it felt very different.
More than a parade
The 2026 Worthing Rotary Carnival was, for me, another step in the evolution of what the Carnival can be.
The parade remains at the heart of the event, but Carnival weekend has become much more than a procession along the seafront.
Across Steyne Gardens and the wider seafront there was live entertainment, food and drink, community organisations, traders, the Great Little Farmers Market, fairground attractions, charity fundraising and, of course, more than thirty parade groups bringing Worthing’s community to the streets.
The Carnival had become a destination in its own right.
That was something we had hoped to achieve when the event started developing over the last few years, but seeing it actually happen is quite different from planning for it.
Sunday set the tone
Sunday gave us the opportunity to see the Carnival operating as a full day event with a fully licensed bar, live music and extended operating times.
Steyne Gardens was busy, the stage was running, the market and attractions were bringing people along the seafront and through town and Cosplay Allstars once again created an extraordinary spectacle.
Then there were the numerous stage acts, such as K Pop Demon Hunters Tribute which drew in a large audience.
The response from visitors and stall holders was fantastic.
Then came Monday
Monday reminded everyone why the parade remains its centrepiece.
The 2026 parade was the largest we have seen for many years, with the final line-up reaching 34 groups.
That growth was visible from the moment the first participants assembled.
Bands, dancers, community organisations, charities, sports groups, vehicles, entertainers and costumed characters all came together to create something that could only really be described as Worthing.
The parade started from Grand Avenue at 12.30pm, led by Worthing Town Crier Bob Smytherman and the Mayor of Worthing, Cllr Lysanne Skinner.
From there, it became a moving celebration of the town.
Independent coverage afterwards captured just how large the crowds had become. Scene Sussex described the pavements and available spaces along the route as packed with cheering spectators and said it was one of the busiest times they had seen in the town for a long while.
That is probably the image I will take away from this year’s Carnival.
Not one particular float or costume.
The crowds.
And then the weather arrived
British weather has a rather unfortunate habit of reminding event organisers who is really in charge.
We had sunshine.
Then rain.
Then heavy rain.
Then hail.
Then, remarkably, sunshine again, which dried everything and everyone up, except for maybe some soggy socks.
For those of us involved behind the scenes, the weather created some tense moments.
For the people taking part, it was even harder. Some outfits were never designed to deal with a sudden downpour. Some contained electronics and batteries. Others were simply very hot, very elaborate and very difficult to dry.
And yet the parade continued. The crowds stayed.
People opened umbrellas, sheltered where they could and then came back out again.
That says something about the affection people have for this event.
PARADE AWARDS
The Judges
2026 saw the return of the parade awards, judged independently by Town Crier Bob Smytherman, Worthing Journal’s Paul Holden and Rotary’s Area Commander, perched up upon the terrace of Tavola Di Famiglia Osteria, the perfect vantage point.
The people are the Carnival
It is easy to talk about the number of entries, the size of the crowds or the number of attractions.
But none of those things actually make a Carnival.
People do.
Hundreds of people gave up their time to take part, perform, organise, marshal, photograph, entertain, raise money, provide services, manage traffic, support visitors and make everything work.
There were businesses providing equipment and expertise, community groups bringing their members, charities raising awareness and funds, performers entertaining the crowds and volunteers doing the jobs that most people never see.
That is the part of Carnival that I think is easiest to overlook.
The public sees the finished product.
Those involved see the hundreds of small things that have to happen correctly for that finished product to exist.
And there are a lot of them.
Worthing showed up
One of the things that has struck me most since the weekend is how many different parts of Worthing came together.
You could stand in Steyne Gardens and see local businesses alongside charities, community organisations alongside professional suppliers, performers alongside volunteers and families alongside visitors who had simply come into town for the day.
The Carnival creates a meeting point.
It gives organisations an opportunity to introduce themselves to people who might otherwise never encounter them.
It gives businesses an opportunity to reach new customers.
It gives charities a platform.
And it gives residents something that belongs to the town.
That wider community impact is one of the reasons I think the continued growth of the Carnival matters.
The Carnival is becoming part of the town’s economy too
There is another side to the growth that is worth recognising.
A large free event does not exist in isolation.
People come into Worthing for the Carnival. They park, travel, eat, drink, shop and stay locally.
The Great Little Farmers Market extends the event while the fairground attractions and other activities encourage people to move around rather than staying in one location.
The Town Centre BID also promoted the Carnival as a major free weekend attraction bringing people into the centre and seafront.
That creates an opportunity for the Carnival to become an even stronger part of Worthing’s wider summer economy.
I think there is much more we can do with that in future years.
There is still work to do
It would be easy after a weekend like this to simply say, “That was brilliant, let’s do it again.”
But good events do not improve by congratulating themselves.
They improve by asking what worked, what did not, what people noticed and what could be done differently next time.
The feedback we have already received from parade entrants, stallholders, performers, volunteers, businesses and visitors is therefore just as important as the photographs and headlines.
Some things worked extremely well this year. Other things inevitably need refinement.
That is normal.
The Carnival has grown considerably in a short period of time, and the systems, structures and resources supporting it have had to grow with it.
That is probably the biggest challenge facing the event now.
Growth is exciting. Managing growth properly is much harder.
What I will remember
- The crowds along the seafront.
- The parade stretch away into the distance.
- The crowd reacting to superheroes, princesses, wizards and characters they recognised from films and television.
- The businesses, charities and community groups that put themselves forward and gave their time to be in or to support the groups in the parade.
- The volunteers who kept going when the weather turned.
- And I will remember that one comment from a veteran Carnival member “Take time and enjoy all your hard work from over the last year, walk past you”
Scene Sussex summed it up rather well after the event. Their review described the experience as uplifting, commented on how busy the town had become and finished by calling the Carnival a mainstay of Worthing’s event calendar.
That is a pretty good description of what we are trying to build.
A Carnival built by the local community
An event of this scale doesn’t happen without the support of local organisations and businesses.
The Carnival team would like to recognise the organisations providing practical, technical, promotional and logistical support for this year’s event.
sPONSORS
Keith’s Bar
Keith’s Bar provided the Carnival bar operation, helping bring a greater choice of refreshments to the event.
Stageworks
Stageworks provided the stage setup and supported the Carnival’s live entertainment programme.
Ipro Security
Ipro Security provided the security and medical cover for the event, helping ensure that visitors, performers, traders and volunteers can enjoy the weekend safely.
ACTIVE Pump Services & RAW Services
Active Pump Services and RAW Services supported the parade by donating bottled water for parade entrants and volunteers.
HOUSE OF HORN AND THE CASTLE
Took care of the logistics of procuring and delivering the vast quantity of donated water.
A Star Waste Management
Provided waste-management services to help keep the Carnival site clean and well managed throughout the weekend.
Rocket Marketing
Provided invaluable support through its local business connections and social media expertise, helping the Carnival build relationships with businesses.
Hemiko
Provided security fencing to support the safe operation and management of the event site.
Touch of A Bow
Transformed the Carnival stage area with its decorative work.
Regency Radio
Regency Radio provided live DAB broadcasting from Steyne Gardens, giving visitors another way to experience the Carnival and helping bring the atmosphere of the event to a wider audience.
Ardington Hotel
For providing facilities and support to the Carnival team.
chatsworth Hotel
For providing facilities and support to the Carnival team.
THE THIEVES KITCHEN
For providing changing space for cosplay characters.
Worthing Journal
The Worthing Journal supported the event with publicity and helped spread the word about Carnival across the local community.
The Great Little Farmers Market
The Great Little Farmers Market brought its traders to the seafront for both days, providing an additional attraction and supporting independent businesses.
Dave Hunt Leisure & Coles Fun Fair
Provided rides and attractions along the promenade, extending the Carnival experience beyond Steyne Gardens
COSPLAY ALLSTARS
The Cosplay Allstars presence has become a distinctive part of the Carnival. More than 100 characters travelled from across the country to be there, volunteering their time and helping to create an experience that is difficult to replicate anywhere else.
There is something quite special about watching a child suddenly realise that their favourite character is standing a few metres away from them.
You see the same thing happen with adults, of course. They just tend to be slightly more discreet about it.
Media teams
A huge thanks also needs to go out to the videographers and photographers that captured the event, provided photos and videos, and shared content to socials and to media outlets; these include:
- Anthony Hadaway, Bel Holman and Tim Judd at Maximum Exposure for the epic Cosplay Allstars content.
- Bella – Parade Awards Photos
- Thomas Williams – Parade Photos
- Danny Cotton – JuiceBox Media Ltd – Video
- Eddie Mitchell – Freelance – Brighton Snapper
- Ian Bourne Photography – Scene Sussex
Also thanks to Worthing Herald, The Argus, The Worthing Journal, Worthing Watch and anyone else that has reviewed and shared content. Keep tagging Worthing Carnival.
volunteers
Volunteers from the following groups helped assist with the event, road closures, bucket collections and marshalling.
- Worthing Carnival Committee
- Rotary Club of Worthing
- Angmering Rotary Club
- Worthing Veterans Association
- Cosplay Allstars
To anyone we may have inadvertently missed, please accept our apologies and our sincere, wholehearted thanks.
Looking towards 2027
There is always a temptation after an event to immediately start talking about next year.
For the moment, I think it is important to pause. To recognise what has been achieved. To thank the people who made it possible and to remember that an event of this scale is not created by just one organisation or one committee.
It is created by a community.
Worthing Rotary Carnival has been part of Worthing’s identity for more than 100 years. The 2026 weekend showed that there is still plenty of life in that tradition. The challenge now is not simply to make the Carnival bigger. It is to make it better. To make it more valuable to the community.
To give more organisations the opportunity to be involved. To create more opportunities for local businesses. To raise more money for good causes. To help provide positivity for Worthing.
And, above all, to make sure that when people think about the August Bank Holiday in Worthing, they think about a town coming together.
That, for me, is what Carnival is really about.
Worthing coming together.
Written on behalf of Worthing Carnival Committee
