Isle of Wight Day drew record crowds to Carisbrooke Castle for its inaugural Family Fun Day at the Castle where Island residents only had to pay £1 entry fee to attend.
Up to 4,000 people thronged to Carisbrooke in glorious sunshine to enjoy a family day of fun and food whilst celebrating the fourth Isle of Wight Day, which has become a firm fixture on the Island’s calendar.
Long queues formed for the special attractions at the Castle on the day which included a vintage fairground, bouncy castles, sporting demonstrations and participation in judo and shooting from the IOW Island Games team, cardboard castle building, face painting, human
table football and a host of trade stalls. Historic figures in fancy dress were in evidence throughout the site as the Castle conducted history tours of this wonderful English Heritage attraction and of course the Castle’s famous donkeys were there to welcome all visitors, as well as Nipper, the Isle of Wight Day 7ft crab mascot.
Amanda Pickard, the English Heritage property manager at the Castle said “We really enjoyed seeing so many people at the Castle and being able to experience what an amazing place we have here on the island, over 3,500 did and we look forward to welcoming them all back soon!“
Whilst thousands thronged to Carisbrooke, hundreds of other Islanders took to the island’s beaches to take part in the annual Big Coastline Clean-Up, removing tons of unwanted plastic waste from beaches all around the Island in celebration of Isle of Wight Day. Sunday saw another sell-out crowd at Cowes Enterprise College attending the annual Songs of Praise concert featuring the 75 strong IOW Symphony Orchestra and an 80 strong choir made up of the Medina Community Choir, the Cantus Vesperi Choir and the children’s choir from Carisbrooke Primary.
Robin Courage, the founder of Isle of Wight Day, said “This fourth Isle of Wight Day lived up to all expectations and it was wonderful to see so many families entering into the spirit of the day and coming together to celebrate all that is so great about our wonderful Island”
The next Isle of Wight Day will be held on Saturday, September 19th, 2020.
– ENDS –
For further information contact:
Robin Courage MBE
01983 811770
rvcourage@gmail.com
