The Khaki Carnival
Information
1900: The May Day celebrations in this year were called the 'Khaki Carnival of Peterborough'. The whole ethos was support for the soldiers in the Boer War. The weather was kind - the Advertiser commented that 'there was just sufficient breeze to stir the flags which were hung in profusion in every part of the city'. People were amazed at just where all the flags and bunting had come from. The cavalcade was something few would forget with soldiers in uniform, clowns in costume and a tableau showing 'looking after Tommy's Children.' 'Old timers' claimed that there had never been such a show in the city and the neighbourhood before. Equally impressive was the flow of visitors who poured into the city by road and rail, arriving long before noon and staying a long while afterwards. The accommodation in private houses, as well as in the hotels of the city, were strained to the limit but it was a telling testimony to the thoroughness of the committees who had arranged the carnival that everyone, visitor and townsman alike, seemed highly gratified, and indeed surprised at the greatness of the show. They were warmly congratulated on the perfect arrangements that characterised the proceedings from first to last.
Taken from The Peterborough Book of Days by Brian Jones, The History Press, 2014.