ST NEOTS carnival is on the verge of making a comeback with plans to create a carnival court this year and organise a parade through the town in 2014.

Adrian Usher, a St Neots town councillor, along with a group of like-minded volunteers, believe it’s time for the town to have its own carnival again and have set about creating St Neots Carnival Association 2013.

The first event is planned for July 5 at the Priory Centre when the new carnival court – a queen, a prince and two princesses – will be chosen. They will then get the opportunity to represent the town at a number of functions throughout the year.

But the ultimate goal is to get the parade back – it will start small and is unlikely to include vehicles in the early days – Mr Usher told The Hunts Post.

“We want to get this back and the carnival court evening is the first step,” he said. “We were hoping to have the parade this year but we just couldn’t get it to happen. There is so much work involved and it has taken an awful lot of work just to get to this stage. We starting up from nothing and have been working out all of the legal side.

“We’re building for a carnival for next year. It will have a rolling road block and because it is unlikely we will get any big vehicles – the lorry companies really do not take part in carnivals any more because of health and safety – we’re thinking of having a walking carnival a bit like Notting Hill, only much smaller.”

However, with the cost of the carnival expected to exceed £10,000, there is a need for sponsors to support the event, Mr Usher added.

The carnival court event is funded and covered by more than enough volunteers. All that is needed are the would-be carnival queens, princes and princesses, and a crowd of well-wishers to give the evening a buzz.

Mr Usher has also issued an open invitation to former queens and princesses to attend the event and lend the new carnival association their support.

The last time a carnival took place in St Neots was 2009.

INFORMATION: Application forms and further information can be found on www.stneotscarnival.co.uk along with contact details for the new association.