For 2023, the Swanage Carnival theme will be ‘Under the Sea’, not just because of our lovely seaside location but also because this year has been designated ‘Year of the Coast’. The eight days of carnival fun will take place from Saturday 29th July to Saturday 5th August 2023.

Building on the bumper success of the carnival in 2022, which saw the largest crowds ever flock to the town, the team are looking forward to putting on another impressive show this summer.
Secretary of Swanage Carnival Kevin Langdon said:
“After much discussion, our theme this year is ‘Under the Sea’. It ties in with The Year of the Coast, the Year of the Pier and the release of Disney’s Little Mermaid film and will hopefully inspire all those thinking to enter a carnival float.
“There’s lots of planning going on behind the scenes and while we’re still waiting for the big carnival attractions to be finalised, I can confirm the details of a number of fundraisers organised for the months running up to carnival week.
“This means that we can get our brilliant team together earlier and raise more money for good causes.”
Getting the fundraising ball rolling earlier
“It’s brilliant to be running more curtain raiser events this year, before the main carnival week – it will be great getting the fundraising ball rolling earlier.
I’m hugely positive about this year’s carnival and we’re working hard to bring a fantastic programme together. I can’t confirm anything yet but a number of favourites will be returning as well as some new things – oh and we know that everyone loves planes, so we’re working on that too!
“We’ll be releasing more details as soon as things are firmed up and we’ll be producing a new all singing, all dancing printed programme with a fresh modern design for 2023, which will have all the information that you need.”