No Swampscott carnival this fall

SWAMPSCOTT – Plans for a community carnival have been put on hold until next spring.Recreation Director Danielle Strauss said it wasn’t possible to hold one this fall like town officials had hoped because it was difficult finding a suitable venue.”We had hoped to have a carnival this year,” she said. “It would have been such a nice community event but there just wasn’t enough time to pull it together for this year.”At a June Board of Selectmen meeting, the selectmen discussed having a carnival in town and the consensus among the selectmen was Vinnin Square would be an ideal site for a carnival. At that meeting, Town Administrator Andrew Maylor said he would check with merchants in the Vinnin Square area regarding use of the parking lot. Other venue ideas discussed during that meeting included the high school and Phillips Park.Strauss said the idea to work with Vinnin Square merchants didn’t pan out.”The businesses were just not interested,” she said. “So we had to look at other locations.”Strauss said she scoped out several locations in town with a representative from Fiesta Shows.”We looked at the high school, the old middle school, the former temple (Temple Israel), Vinnin Square and the football practice field at Phillips Park,” she said. “The consensus was the Phillips Park site would be the preferred location.”Strauss went on to say having a carnival in Phillips Park during football season isn’t feasible.”There is a possibility the practice field could be damaged,” she said. “If we have a carnival in the spring then there would be time to make any repairs before the field is needed for football practices.”Strauss said Fiesta Shows carries its own insurance and if there was any damage to the field it would pay to have it repaired.She added she is confident a carnival this spring is a real possibility.”It would be a nice community event,” she said. “We’re also looking into holding other community events including a Castleberry Fair (craft show).”