Festival fun as Washington Carnival draws in crowd of 5,000

Thousands were in a festival mood as they celebrated their town's rich history.
Boogie Bounce with Keep Active team having fun with a silent disco.Boogie Bounce with Keep Active team having fun with a silent disco.
Boogie Bounce with Keep Active team having fun with a silent disco.

Around 5,000 people attended Washington Carnival, which was held at the weekend in Albany Park and puts the area’s heritage at the centre of its activities.

The town’s banner groups launched the event with a parade through Concord, led by the city’s mayor, with heritage organisations, artists and Meccano enthusiasts exhibiting alongside visits from characters, children’s rides, face painting, go karting and other entertainment including singers and dancers.

Characters helped keep youngsters entertained.Characters helped keep youngsters entertained.
Characters helped keep youngsters entertained.
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Youngsters also got the chance to try out circus skills, while visitors were able to look at a collection of vintage vehicles or try out a climbing wall.

Boogie Bounce was also run by the Keep Active team, running a silent disco on mini trampolines.

The event has been running for around a decade, but has been organised for the last three years by Sunderland North Community Business Centre on behalf of Sunderland City Council, with the funding granted by the Washington Area Committee.

The centre’s business manager Jemma Amer said: “It went really really well and we had excellent feedback from people who came to the event, commenting on how well it went.

“We had a mix of activities for families, older people as well as young.”

The carnival was held on Saturday.