2005/06 Upgrade
The Carnival Queens Float
The centerpiece of any Carnival Association is it’s Queen & Court’s float. Southend Carnival is no exception to this with a long tradition of differing Queens floats over the years.
Current Float
The current Southend Queen’s float was built over the winter of 2001/2002, with the help of a lottery grant from Awards for All. The float is built on an old four wheeled caravan chassis which has been cut down to 18ft. The dimensions are as follows:
The main material used to build the float is marine ply which has been painted and then varnished to allow use in bad weather. The float is fitted out with it’s own music system and lighting which are powered by a generator. The float comes alive at night when the lights are switched on. The outline of the float is depicted by white rope lights and looks superb.
Design
The design of the float is based on a sea theme, it was felt that this theme depicts Southend perfectly with sun, sand, waves, buckets & spades. A competition for children was run at the time to design the float and a mixture of all the entrants was used in the final design.
Operations
The float is maintained and operated by a dedicated band of volunteers who make sure the float is available to attend other carnivals throughout the summer months. On an average outing it takes around three people to effectively operate the float.
2005/06 Upgrade
Following the floats major rebuild in 2001/02, the decision was made to give the float a new paint job to celebrate 100 years of Carnival in Southend during the winter of 2005/06. The work also included the installation of new lights and a Treasure Chest as the centre piece of the new design.
2010 Repaint
For the 2010 Season The float has been given a fresh coat of white paint along with some brighter colours to freshen the look of the float as seen here
