Official Calis Carnival Details

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The first ever Calis Carnival will officially take place on 7 June 2008.

I have attached a copy of the speech given by Joint Chairman Peter Clark (our very own Captain Squiffy) at the Publicty launch party attended by the Mayor of Fethiye, Directors of the Belediye, businesses, residents, press and television. This gives some background as to how the project evolved and full details of the Carnival event itself and all of the other fund raising events planned so far.

I make no apologies for the length of this article The Carnival is one of the biggest things to be planned for Calis and we need you all to support the event to make it a huge success

 



"WHERE DID THE IDEA COME FROM?"

"Chrissie and I lived on the Isle of Wight which has a huge carnival culture and holds 11 carnivals throughout the Summer.

We have been involved in these carnivals and they are good fun days. There is a lot of involvement of the local community, they bring people together and the money raised all goes to charity.

We thought it would be a good thing for Calis to have a carnival. Olu Deniz has its festival, Hisaronu has a carnival night, but Calis has nothing.

A few of us got together to see how to go about it because we want to give something back to the people of this beautiful country. We know we are privileged to be here and want to be part of the community.

After a couple of initial meetings we met with Calis Turizm ve Tanitma Dernegi (Calis Tourism and Promotion Association) and curiously enough they had had the same idea for several years. And so the two ideas came together.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The event will take place on 7 JUNE 2008 and will be unique, being the first of it's kind to be held in this area of Turkey.

It will help to provide Calis with an identity of it's own, rather than as it's present image of a beach area attached to Fethiye.

By holding the Carnival we aim to:

Develop and instil a sense of belonging and local pride in Çalis with everyone working together "hand in hand" for the good of the town. To this end we have adopted the carnival slogan

Calis Icin Hepelele" - "Hand in Hand for Calis"

and this forms part of our distinctive carnival logo.


We hope to encourage and develop positive relations and harmony between the Turkish community and foreign citizens who have either bought property or are residing, working or holidaying in the Çalis area

Enhance the economic development of Çalis and promote a positive image of the town locally, regionally, nationally and internationally, therefore encouraging increased tourism in Çalis

Involve local schools, businesses, organisations and institutions in promoting both Çalis and their own activities

Showcase Turkish customs and culture

Raise funds for under privileged sections of the local community. For the first year we are focusing on under privileged and disadvantaged children in the Calis/Fethiye area.

Create an enjoyable day and very safe atmosphere for all participants and visitors to the Carnival.


The day of the carnival will consist of three main elements

Carnival Street Parade
Exhibition and Display area
Evening Concert

CARNIVAL STREET PARADE

The carnival street parade will take the form of a procession with all participants in fancy dress. The theme of this fancy dress will be "Welcome to Summer, the Sun and The Sea".
Entries will be invited from individuals, schools, local youth organisations, clubs and businesses, hotels restaurants and bars. These entries could be walking, pushing prams, on bicycles, on decorated towed trailers or on the back of small decorated lorries or other small forms of light motorised transport e.g. cars, jeeps and dolmus. The use of large lorries will be strictly prohibited.

We hope there will also be marching bands, al entertainment, folk dancing and street entertainers in the parade and around the parade route.

Participants will be collecting money from the spectators to donate to the chosen charities as they pass along the parade route

There will be several categories for the parade entries and these will be judged using the following criteria:

Artistic impression and creativity
Performance and effort
Interpretation of the theme

Cups and trophies will be awarded for the best in class and certificates awarded to other entries.

The whole event will be free to spectators and we do not intend to charge an entry fee to participants of the parade.

However corporate businesses will be charged an entry fee for their float, as it will be providing advertising for their business or products.

Prior to the Carnival, children, aged 8 - 14, will be invited to a Competition where a boy and girl will be chosen as Carnival Prince and Princess and these will head the Carnival in a decorated float.

The planned route will pass through Koca Çalis and turn on to the promenade at Seril 1 Restaurant. It will continue down the promenade until it reaches the turning by the Harem Restaurant and Er-oz Hotel where it will turn left over the canal bridge up the main street to the Dolphin Roundabout where it will turn and return down the main street to the promenade and continue along the promenade to the car park area near the Sat Restaurant.

Judging will take place, hopefully by the Mayor and other dignitaries and trophies/certificates will be awarded at the end of the parade before dispersal.

The Carnival Committee have recently visited schools in the Çalis area and all of the head teachers are pleased to support and participate in the Carnival. The schools have promised to provide drum bands, dance displays and ians and they hope to use elements of the carnival theme in their next year's curriculum.

We will also be asking schoolchildren to design posters for the Carnival when they start the new school year in September with a prize for the winning entries.

There will also be mask/costume and float-making workshops in the run up to the Carnival.

We also intend to explore the possibility of the Çalis Boat Co-operative providing a floating procession of decorated boats along Çalis seafront on the day of the Carnival and the Fethiye Surf School have kindly agreed to provide a kite surfing display on the Carnival afternoon.


EXHIBITION AND DISPLAY AREA

There will be an exhibition area sited in the gardens adjacent to the Mutlu Hotel.
We will invite local organisations to set up information stands to promote and educate the community on the activities of their organisation/group.

There will be an art and photography exhibition with sections for entries from schools, community groups and amateur individuals. displays of ceramics and local crafts people will also be invited to display and sell their goods.

This exhibition area will be open all day.


CONCERT

In the evening there will be a free concert in the large car park at the rear of the Mado ice cream parlour, starting at 19.30 pm. This is being organised with the assistance of Fare Music School in Fethiye. The concert is planned to be a fusion of  and dance of various cultures and local ians and dancers have been asked to donate their time.

Schools will also be invited to perform both in  and dance early in the programme and they will be consulted early next term.


GENERAL CARNIVAL ACTIVITIES

We wish to encourage local restaurants, bars and hotels to participate in and to benefit from the event by staging their own entertainment and competitions in the week leading up to Carnival day.

These could include such things as Carnival Quiz Night, Carnival Karaoke King competition, Talent contest, Carnival Barbecue, Turkish dancing and other dance displays and other such events.
It is envisaged that they will charge a small entrance fee or a participation fee, which could be donated to the chosen charity.
Some Calis barmen have already suggested an "Iron Man" triathlon, to include a swimming race, bike race and road race.

We will encourage bars, restaurants, hotels and shops to decorate their premises in preparation for the event day and to provide/sell examples of the varied Turkish cuisine, culture and crafts. We hope staff will dress up on Carnival day in order to add to the Carnival atmosphere.

Other bars, restaurants and businesses outside the area of the procession will be encouraged to participate by entering floats and/or setting up stalls to promote their businesses so that the whole area of Çalis is included and benefits.

To encourage further participation we intend to provide a trophy and certificates for the best decorated bar/restaurant/hotel/shop. Judging of this will take place in the week preceding the event.


OTHER FUNDRAISING EVENTS LEADING UP TO CARNIVAL

As one of our main aims is to raise money for local charities we intend to hold events in the months leading up to the carnival. These events will also help to raise people's awareness of the forthcoming carnival.

These events will include:

"Promises Auction" where people pledge to donate their services or products and these are auctioned off to the highest bidder. This event is planned to take place at the Nil Restaurant, Calis Promenade on 25 October.

Car Boot Sale - this will be held on Sunday 30 September in the car park behind the ice cream parlour and small shops on Calis Promenade and sellers will be charged an entry fee to set up their stalls

Various Quiz Nights and 60's Music Nights

The Hash Harriers have suggested a Fun Run

We also intend to have T Shirts and hats printed with the Carnival Logo and date and sell these at a profit, thereby achieving income and free advertising at the same time.


RAFFLE

We would like to hold a Carnival Grand Raffle with donated prizes in the week leading up to the Carnival and will be seeking the Belediye's advice as to obtaining permission to run such an event.

We would emphasise that all these are the thoughts of the Committee at the moment and they are not set in stone. We welcome any suggestions that you may have for any additional activities.


WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?

The event cannot take place without the full support of everyone, both physical and financial. The cost of Carnival does not come cheap and the costs need to be met to make it a success.

The Belediye are already supporting with the loan of much equipment and the Zabita have promised help with the organisation of the event.

Baris Insurance have very kindly agreed to underwrite the insurance for the event

John Worby, a professional web site designer, has donated his time to design a website for the carnival - www.caliscarnival.com - this is now up and running.

Taurean Properties are sponsoring the Carnival Prince and Princess costumes as well as providing valuable administrative assistance.

We believe that the event could be fully funded by seeking sponsorship from local and corporate businesses in return for the opportunity to promote their companies, brands and products.

This could include the provision of prizes and cups/shields.

A lot of the costs involved will be for printing and advertising in order to raise people's awareness of the carnival.

There will also be a lot of costs involved in the hire of sound equipment and lighting for the parade and the concert.

We will need pledges of services and donations of products for the Promises Auction. This could be as varied as providing a dog walking or baby sitting service for a week to a new TV or car hire.

We need to keep the event in the public eye. We hope that the local papers/media will give us their whole-hearted support in this.

We will need marshals/stewards for the event day itself, and any planned events prior to the event day

Buckets and bucket collectors!

Drivers and donated transport for floats

Donations of materials for costume and float decorations, particularly for help with school entries

Help with the planned workshops

We need help from tour companies in advertising the event

Support from hotels in raising awareness of the event with their guests

Donations of prizes for the Grand Carnival raffle

Donations of venues for fund raising events - the Irish Bar and Forum Bar/Shine Indian Restaurant and Aquapark have already offered the use of their premises

All money raised and all financial support donated will be fully documented and audited by the treasurers and the Belediye.

Finally and most importantly we need you all to be there on the Carnival Day itself and at the events leading up to the Carnival so please tell all your friends about it.

We are fully committed to this project so please come and join hands with us and help us to make Calis Carnival the success that it deserves to be for the benefit of our community."

7 JUNE 2008

www.caliscarnival.com