![Screenshot 2021-08-01 5.57.56 PM](https://theisleofthanetnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Screenshot-2021-08-01-5.57.56-PM-678x381.png)
Margate Carnival may not have gone ahead this year but that hasn’t stopped organisers putting on quite the show for families.
A special day was held today (August 1) with stalls, entertainment and a community carnival procession in place of the annual event.
![](https://theisleofthanetnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Screenshot-2021-08-01-4.26.35-PM-678x381.png)
Organisers said with only a short period between the lifting of government Covid restrictions and the town’s carnival, it wasn’t safe or practical to run this year’s parade as normal.
Instead, a free family fun day was put on by the team behind the 120-year-old Margate Carnival on the field at Drapers Mills Primary.
![](https://theisleofthanetnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Screenshot-2021-08-01-3.20.52-PM-678x381.png)
A Doorstep Carnival also took place around Dane Valley bringing characters including swans, bees, and butterflies to residential streets, so families could watch from their front step.
![](https://theisleofthanetnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Screenshot-2021-08-01-3.22.03-PM-678x381.png)
There was also a stage for local musicians, dance schools and theatre groups to showcase their work.
This included Treble Performing Arts, Stage Door Arts Academy, JoJo’s School of Dance & Performing Arts, Silver Slipper and Off The Hook Productions.
![](https://theisleofthanetnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/229037821_365408201805602_1818340700796997100_n.jpg)
Community groups, social enterprises and independent businesses had stalls and food was provided by Our Kitchen.
To end the event, Great British Carnival – which ran carnival making workshops all afternoon – ran a procession around the site.
Margate Carnival, which attracts crowds in excess of 25,000 people, would normally see the town brought to a standstill as the procession of 70 local clubs, groups, and small businesses travel from Palm Bay to Westbrook.