Love Ashford has ran a bunch of festival, local events this year for their town! We were able to go down to the Carnival of the Baubles, unsure what to expect as it was their first year doing this event. The Carnival of the Baubles is the last of the three holiday events, which include an illuminated house and a magical illuminated forest. This last event had illuminated baubles made by all of the local schools, which were paraded through the town.
We didn’t really know what we were doing when we arrived. I suppose, looking back on it, we probably should have just been watching the carnival instead of joining in, but here we are. Standing near everyone lining up, there were several people asking if anyone wanted to hold the baubles. These came in so many different shapes and sizes, all hanging from different poles you can walk with. I grabbed one of the spare ones for Phoenix Primary School as many of the kids were not there to hold their bauble. Once we were in line, Dann went off to take some outside shots as I was told we were going to weave when we walked, given a headband and figured out exactly how high I needed to hold this pole.
Once the parade started, music began both from drums at the front of the line and later from a robot at the back of the parade. I am not really sure what the meaning of this festival was, but there was a really interesting story to follow! While we were waiting for our turn to march, three giant gods started dancing in the streets. One, seemingly the sun god, another the moon god, and a third land god. These giants danced and played around to the music, captivating everyone watching. They lead the parade, with a robot following behind all of us. Being chased by a giant robot, following the gods, is not how I figured I’d spend my night, but it was a really fun thing to watch and be apart of!
As I was closer to the back, I got to hear the laser sounds and music pumping off the robot as we marched, weaving back and forth. The gods stopped here and there to continue their dance, until they reached the end of the parade. There, us bauble holders were put to one side to watch the gods face off against the robot. The gods seems to have destroyed the robot, before hugging and dancing, and then disappearing into the night. Santa then appeared for the walk back – he may have been at the front, I wasn’t around there to see him though!
The Carnival of the Baubles was one of those very interesting local events that are a delight to stumble upon. It seemed like the children who attended did learn more about what was going on, however, I did not, which I think added to the magic as I participated in it. They gave me my bauble to keep, which I brought home and have hanging up. There was meant to be a night market at the event, but this year they skipped out on it, instead opting for a concert stage with a band playing back at the starting point. We had a great time at the Carnival of Baubles, even without understanding completely what’s going on.
You can check out our other Days Out to see what else we’ve been up too!