Volunteers clock up a remarkable 1,000 hours behind the scenes at the Irish Yogurts Clonakilty Street Carnival.

CLONAKILTY is getting ready to party once again for this year’s Irish Yogurts Street Carnival, and a call has gone out for volunteers to help make the event another special success.

Last year’s return of the Irish Yogurts Clonakilty Street Carnival saw more than 200 people volunteer to help organise and run the hugely popular foodie event in West Cork.

In the lead-up to, and including, carnival day, 248 volunteers collectively contributed 1,037 hours.

Pete and Jenny Moynihan from Clonakilty 20th Scouts helping out. The 20th will be back on the streets again this year. (Photo: Anna Groniecka)

This included everything from picking and arranging bouquets of locally-sourced wildflowers and setting up the rows of long dining tables, to selling merchandise, waitering, and tidying up the town, assisting with queue and traffic management, and overseeing the family-friendly zone.

Carnival volunteer groups have included the Clonakilty 20th Scouts, the Clonakilty Tidy Towns, the Clonakilty Flower Club and last year the Clonakilty children’s hair salon, Flourish & Be, opened their doors to create a family-friendly autism space on the day.

The first ever Clonakilty Street Carnival took place in 2016 and it’s now an annual event in June, that has seen hundreds of volunteers dedicate their time to the festival over the years.

The carnival is organised by a committee of volunteers who work tirelessly to create a fun and festive atmosphere with sponsors, local businesses, and the Clonakilty Chamber of Commerce all supporting the event.

This year’s Irish Yogurts Street Carnival is seeking new and existing volunteers to help again on Saturday, June 15th and will be required to volunteer their time for a few hours throughout the day.

The carnival committee hopes to encourage more volunteers to join them this June.

Amongst the hundreds of volunteers who help at the event is 93-year-old Noreen Minihan.

Aidan Holland and Noreen Minihan helping out at last year’s carnival. Age is no barrier for volunteer Noreen.

Noreen, from Clonakilty, a former principal of St Joseph’s Infant Boys’ School, is president of the Clonakilty Tidy Towns and has a longstanding history of community activity across West Cork.

The late 1970s saw the beginning of the Clonakilty Tidy Towns, which can have up to 40 volunteers helping at the weekly litter pick-ups across the town, as well as stewarding and tidying up at the town’s many annual events.

‘On the carnival day the Tidy Towns turn up nice and early and help with blocking off the streets and collecting the tables and chairs, which is heavy work,’ Noreen explains.

‘They hold a meeting for the various jobs of the day, like hanging the bunting, putting up the barriers, the queueing – which is my job for the day, to let people in.

‘There is the checking of the tickets, and after people collect their food, there are volunteers to help escort them to their seats and give them a glass of wine. At the end of the carnival day there can be 60-80 bags of rubbish, with the Tidy Towns going all day picking up and collecting the rubbish and replacing bin bags.

‘People from England take our photographs and they can’t believe that volunteers would brush the streets and not get anything for it!’

Noreen, who has enjoyed volunteering since she was a child, explains how rewarding and beneficial it can be for those thinking about joining a group or getting involved in the carnival day.

‘You want to help, and as I say to new people coming to the town, if you want to make new friends, either have a baby, get a dog, or join the Tidy Towns! The comradeship is great!

‘The carnival is a magical day. There are people coming in from outside areas or coming home especially for the occasion and meeting up with friends. A couple of strangers at the beginning of the queue were even saying that if the Guinness Book of World Records were here it would set a record for the greatest amount of hugging!’

From the carnival’s eldest volunteer to the youngest, the Clonakilty 20th Scouts have been involved in recent years, helping to clear tables and oversee the family-friendly zone.

Vicki Sherry, group leader of the Clonakilty 20th Scouts and former carnival committee member explained: ‘There is so much organising behind the scenes that goes unnoticed, the volunteers and committee are setting up the carnival day at the crack of dawn and finish well after everyone goes home. Everyone is so passionate about their town.

‘We had roughly 30 scouts, parents and leaders helping out with the kids’ zone last year, which is very popular and busy on carnival day. Volunteering on the street carnival makes you feel part of the community, and everyone had so much fun being involved in this fantastic event.’ The carnival wouldn’t be complete without its beautiful addition of wildflowers to the many rows of dining tables, that are expected to seat thousands of diners again on June 15th.

‘We are mainly women who are involved in doing the flowers,’ explains Grainne McManus, chairperson of the Clonakilty Flower Club.

The Clonakilty Flower Club preparing flowers for the Street Carnival.

‘The flower club started 52 years ago, and we are delighted to be part of the volunteers for the street carnival.

‘The wildflowers are gathered from hedgerows on the Friday morning and then we meet at the back of O’Donovan’s Hotel and work like busy bees!

‘The hotel kindly offers us secure facilities to prepare and store the flower arrangements and then on the morning of the festival the flowers are set out on the tables.’

Last year they arranged 100 containers, painted yellow and blue in support of Ukraine, with the most stunning array of blooms.

‘Jerome and Sheena Lynch from Inchydoney House donated the most wonderful collection of flowers with the most sweet-smelling sweet pea and various other flowers,’ said Grainne.

‘We can have up to 30 helpers for the event, and the flower club always supports activities in the town. Clonakilty has a wonderful community spirit, and all of this is made possible by volunteers, so I would encourage anybody to become involved in the street carnival.’

Organisers of the carnival say the key to the event’s success is due to the extraordinary generosity that volunteers give with their time and energy to help pull off this spectacular day.

‘Without them we couldn’t deliver an event of this scale and quality,’ said carnival organiser Kevin O’Regan.

‘By highlighting the many contributions made by the local community of volunteers, we hope to encourage more people to get involved this year – whether you are part of a group or an individual who can spare a day, half day, or even a couple of hours. Our volunteers across all areas of the carnival bring a vast range of experience and expertise which benefits our planning for the big day.’

Volunteers can call Kevin on 086 8329993 to find out more about how they can help.

Follow the Irish Yogurts Clonakilty Street Carnival on Facebook and Instagram at @Clonakiltystreetcarnival.

The street carnival dinner tickets can be purchased at www.clonakilty.ie