Magic

We stayed local for most of the day. In the morning, we did a little shopping for our upcoming meals: mackerel for lunch and Thai red curry for dinner.  A visit to the carpet shop resulted in a couple of samples being brought back. We spent the afternoon alternating between watching Olympic coverage and dozing on the sofa. 

After our red curry, we went to the Island Line train at the Transport Interchange and headed for Shanklin, where an illuminated carnival took place tonight. When we got off the train at about 8:30 pm, we walked part of the parade route, and it was very quiet. Nonetheless, several people had strategically placed chairs on the pavement. It looked very odd when we were walking towards the start. On the way back, as we passed them returning to the station, it looked like a good call to grab a prime viewing position.

We walked until a reasonable build-up of people lined the streets at Shanklin's old town. We stood in front of The Crab pub. I haven't been there since November 2021, when we stayed near Shanklin for a month, but my phone, helpfully, logged on to the pub's WiFi.

While people were starting to take positions on the pavement, an enterprising group were walking up and down, selling all sorts of illuminated things for people to wave. How many of them will have a life beyond tonight?

A fire engine led the parade into town, and then all sorts of groups contributed floats. There was a marching band and, towards the end, a fantastic group of drummers. A Chitty Chitty Bang Bang float seems to be Shanklin's official 2024 carnival float. There was everything from an Olde Tea Shop to a smoke-breathing dragon, in front of which a group were dancing to a mix of music including songs from Steps followed by The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Many entrants were marked as coming from other island carnivals: we saw Ryde and Ventor carnivals represented. Last night in the restaurant, we came up with a plan to bring my Mum and Dad to see Ryde's illuminated carnival, and I suspect we'll see many of the same groups processing.

The Magic Roundabout float passed our viewing location, and I was so mesmerised that I didn't get a picture. On our walk back to the station, we caught up with the parade, and because progress was slow, we caught most of the entrants again, and I was able to take a couple of pictures.