'The Show Must Go On' - Vandals Don't Spoil Carnival

Tens of thousands turn out for another successful Hanwell Carnival

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Burnt seat Photos by Mike Gahan

Hanwell Carnival 2015

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Vandals caused damage to the open-top bus used to lead Hanwell's Carnival procession but organisers didn't let it ruin the day.

The bus had been parked at Hanwell Community Centre in Westcott Crescent - the starting point of the procession for many years.

Organisers showed up on Saturday morning to find a cracked windscreen, burnt and ripped seats and the internal wiring torn out.

Mike Gahan, who was the first to see the damage, said it was a “devastating blow”.

''I felt sick in my stomach when I saw what had happened.''

The Titan open-top bus had been loaned to the carnival by Brentford-based RedRoutemaster.com, which supplies vehicles from their vintage fleet to carnivals, weddings and other events.

Manager Adam Shailes inspected the damage, and deemed the bus safe to drive.
He said

''The show must go on, we couldn't let the bad people who damaged and tried to arson our bus affect the wonderful people of Hanwell. With some amazing effort and help from the carnival volunteers, our bus was able to still carry the carnival Queen in the parade.'' 

Mr Gahan said the police had examined the bus and taken forensics. 

''Officers are also analysing CCTV footage from Hanwell Community Centre, which shows several individuals breaking into the locked car park at midnight, and making their way towards the bus.''

Police say there have been no arrests but enquiries continue.

The incident didn't spoil the day though and thousands turned out to watch the procession and enjoy a packed day of music, stalls and great food at Elthorne Park.

The Brilliant restaurant were first timers @ carnival - Dipna Anand herself manning the hobs.


This year’s theme was Historical Hanwell and notable figures spotted on the parade included engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, philanthropist William Hobbayne and Jonas Hanway, a Hanwell man and the first man in England to carry an umbrella.

This year, the acoustic tent was renamed Alice’s Acoustic Tent in memory of Alice Gross, the 14-year-old Hanwell schoolgirl who was murdered last year. Nearly £2,000, was raised for Alice’s Youth Music Memorial Fund.

Carnival chairman Alistair Mitton said:

''Hanwell Carnival is run by the community, for the community and once again Hanwell put on a magnificent event.

“Despite an overcast day and occasional drizzle more than 25,000 people enjoyed music, dance displays, excellent food and a wide variety of attractions including live crocodiles.

“Hanwell Carnival has always been about promoting charities as well as everyone one having a great day, so we were very happy to see more than 40 organisations communicate their good work.”

View more photos of the day... courtesy of Photo Ealing https://www.facebook.com/PhotoEaling

24th June 2015