Wilton Carnival 2026
Saturday 4th July was Out of This World!
Wilton came together on Saturday 4th July for the annual Wilton Carnival. The theme this year was “Out of This World” and the day really was!
Town Councillors joined with local groups and community organisations to process from the Market Square to the Carnival site at Castle Meadow. We loved seeing all the costumes and floats, and seeing so many residents and visitors lining the streets.
We spent the afternoon enjoying all of the entertainment, stalls and activities and chatting to residents and visitors about what the Town Council does, our projects and hearing your ideas and suggestions for our town
Some of the things we spoke to residents about included:
Our plans for the 2026 Christmas Lights and a renewed Christmas event. We plan to retain all of the parts of the event that make it special and unique to Wilton, while expanding the event to include more entertainment and activities throughout the day. This year, the event will be held on a Saturday, rather than a Friday as in recent years, so more people will be able to come along to enjoy the afternoon and evening. Everyone we spoke to was excited to see the new Christmas lights we have planned for around the Market Square and was supportive of our plans to have a bigger event in 2026.
We had a number of discussions with residents about how the Council operates, what we are responsible for, how Councillors are elected and how decisions get progressed through Council meetings and our project groups.
We received comments on our recent resident leaflet, with people pleased to be kept up-to-date on our plans for the current, and future, financial years.
If you’ve not received a copy, you can collect one from the Town Council Offices.
We discussed South Street car park, including the lack of available spaces for visitors and shoppers due to a number of vehicles being parked there on a long term basis. Suggestions for resolving this issue included resident permits and/or introducing a pay & display system for vehicles parking for more than a few hours.
One resident suggested marking out a running track around the boundary of Castle Meadow over the summer.
There was general support for the town centre 20mph zone, with one resident suggesting a 40mph “step-down” coming down The Avenue before entering the 30mph zone.
One resident was concerned about the amount of signage requesting dog owners clean up after their animals. She felt it was being suggested that all dog owners were being irresponsible, but was reassured that this signage was to target the minority of owners who don’t take responsibility for dog fouling.
Other comments included “It’s good to see there is so much going on around the town now” and that there has been “great improvements since December”.
And the Mayor was interviewed live on Radio Odstock
A huge thank you to the amazing team of volunteers, and the Carnival Committee, for organising this year’s fantastic event.
Thank you to everyone who came along during the day to enjoy the sunshine, and to those who stopped to chat with us.