Welcome to the official website of the

GOOSNARGH & WHITTINGHAM WHITSUNTIDE FESTIVAL  

This page is all about news! News and details for the events coming up and features about the events that have taken place.

   Halloween Disco 2007 

Friday 26th November saw this year's Halloween Disco roll around. This year was saw the traditional 'opening of the curtain' to reveal our very own undead, our resident DJ Colin, this year with a giant spider theme.

The event was very well attended with a huge amount of imagination obvious in many of the little ghosts, ghouls, witches and devils costumes. Here are some photos from the night.

Festival Sports Day - Sunday 10th June 2007

This year's Festival Sports Day took place, as it usually does, the week after the Festival. We enjoyed an excellent turnout, and glorious hot sunshine.

Winners there were plenty of, with categories and events to suit all ages and talents. Apart from the usual races, high jump and long jump there were the sack, three-legged and egg & spoon races, the slow bicycle races and roly-poly races.

Festival Queen Sally, after taking part in proceedings, changed into gown and sash to award the prizes.

Particular thanks go to all those who, as usual, gave their time and lots of effort to make the day happen. It was very much appreciated - don't take our word for it, check out the fun...

Many thanks to the Goosnargh & Whittingham Whitsuntide Festival Committee and also the Sports Day Sub-Committee, not forgetting the many people who helped the afternoon run smoothly by volunteering to help. 

The 2007 Whitsuntide Festival was BIG...

...So big it's got it's own page. Click here to view it.

Festival Jumble Sale - 31st March 2007

Major thanks are due to all who contributed to this year's Jumble Sale. Mountains of items were donated from all around the Village, from bric-a-brac and clothes, to toys, books and near enough brand new items. The sale raised approximately £1000 which will be used to support the Festival's activities and make the event what it is.

Daisy, the current Festival Queen roped in her family who were busy all day manning a stall - just some of the many who volunteered to help.

Thanks are due to those who helped leafleting, collecting jumble, sorting, manning the stalls, clearing and tidying, for donating sandwiches and cakes and particularly this year for the cooks - some of the best bacon butties tasted for a long time.

Friday 2nd February 2007 was Signing On Night

As per usual tradition, the doors were opened for the new prospective Queens and their retinues to put themselves forward at the Signing On Disco. This year the event had a Pirates and Princesses fancy dress theme, with a huge number of children attending.

Main focus of the evening was the selection of Sally Calder as the next Festival Queen. Sally, who is a former Goosnargh Oliversons pupil now in year 7 at high school, was selected after contender Ailsa Gray sadly had to withdraw from the running.

Sally will be crowned by the current queen Daisy at this year's Festival on Saturday June 2nd.

This year it looks like we may have a record number of flower children - 16 signed up to date! There were also a number of attendants put their names down.

Fancy dress winners were:

   Happy Halloween  

Friday 27th November saw another Halloween roll around. This year was saw the traditional 'opening of the curtain' to reveal our very own Phantom of the Opera, our resident DJ Colin's decks transformed into a pipe organ complete with eerie smoke.

The event saw more little ghosts, ghouls, witches and devils than ever before all out to win the fancy dress prizes.

The 2006 Festival is now available on DVD

We are proud to announce that a DVD of the 2006 Festival is now available to buy, priced at just £5.00 (GBP).

This DVD has been produced in the village and runs for approximately 30 minutes, showing the build-up to the parade with the floats and spectators assembling and then the dancers performing before the parade makes it's way through the Village to the Hospital grounds. The DVD then continues with the Queen's speeches and crowning, followed by more dancing and the fancy dress judging.

The DVD will be available for sale at the Halloween Disco on Friday 27th October 2006 in the Village Hall. It can also be ordered from us online as follows:-

Please send us a feedback submission with your name, address, contact telephone number and quantity required. For local orders we're quite happy to accept cash on collection, for orders by post we'll email you back with our address for payment submission. We can accept payment by cheque or postal order, postage will be by Royal Mail 1st Class, and will be charged at £2.00 for UK orders and £4.00 for worldwide delivery.

Please note that the DVD will be supplied in PAL video format and is recorded on a DVD-R disc. Please check that your DVD player is compatible with both of these standards, refunds can only be given for any confirmed defective products.

It looks like our website has gone Global:

Over the last few months we've had the privilege of corresponding with members of the Strickland family in Oklahoma, whose ancestors lived around the Goosnargh and Inglewhite area. We're looking forward to welcoming them to the village over the first weekend in December as they visit the area and helping them get acquainted.

Also, we've received several emails from George Townson, who is pictured as a young lad in one of our history page photos. The photo taken in 1931 shows George as crown bearer to the first queen Cissy Proctor. We were absolutely delighted to hear from George who is now 78 and lives in Canada.

(Update: We've now decided to try and support these and other requests to help. Have a look at our Villagers Re-Acquainted page. If you can offer any information please contact us via our Feedback Page and we will try and put you in touch.)

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