Eastbourne Carnival

History of Eastbourne Carnival

Eastbourne has historically had a town carnival for decades in the 20th century but did have an absence of 20 years until Stephen Lloyd, then MP for Eastbourne brought it back in 2011.

The earliest reference to Carnival in Eastbourne was in 1895 when the town celebrated ‘The Battle of the Flowers’ in May of that year.

Recently, Carnival has been affected by the pandemic and did not take place in 2020, and a smaller parade took place in September 2021.

Eastbourne Carnival held a successful big parade in 2022, celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

We are now back to our usual late May Bank Holiday spot – and the theme this year is ‘Sussex By The Sea’.

Eastbourne Carnival is a community organisation, organised by a volunteer committee. Most of the committee have been involved with Carnival since it came back in 2011. You can make enquiries, suggestions and contact us via email, or via our social media channels.