Annual Carnival Open During April Vacation Week

If your family's April vacation is more of a staycation this year, don't worry - the annual Wakefield Independence Day Spring Carnival will be open from Tuesday, April 17th to Saturday, April 21st in the parking lot, offering rides, food, fun and games for toddlers to teenagers to parents.

The carnival will be open on Tuesday, April 17th from 6-10 p.m., on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 2-10 p.m., and on Saturday, April 21st from noon to 10 p.m.

Wristbands are available for purchase for four hours of rides on Tuesday through Friday, and five hours of rides on Saturday.

Although there will be no Ferris wheel at this year's festival, all the best rides are back, including the nausea-inducing Zipper, the spinning Tilt-a-whirl, the flying Paraglide, and the rocking-boat Pharaoh. On the menu is your usual carnival basics, including hot dogs, sausages, fried dough, and cotton candy.

An important fundraiser
The yearly carnival is run as a fundraiser by the Wakefield Independence Day Committee to help support Wakefield's large 4th of July celebration and parade. Although the Town of Wakefield provides some services, such as police and DPW detail, all other costs related to the celebration that brings in upwards of 50,000 people each year is raised through the Independence Day Committee.

"Last year, the carnival brought in about $8-9,000, so it's our biggest fundraiser," said Steve Daly, co-director of the Wakefield Independence Day Committee. "The parade is generally in the $50,000 range."

Daly said that due to a struggling economy, coming up with the money for the celebration each year has been tough, and only getting tougher. Daly said normally, the committee works a year in advance to plan the 4th of July Parade, but this year, money is tight.

"We are still raising money for this year's parade, which mean's we're not yet fundraising for next year's parade," he said. "That's going to be a problem we'll have to deal with in the future."

However, the committee is hoping that with the good weather this spring, the turnout for the carnival could be better than last year, bringing in more money for the 4th of July celebrations.

Click here to donate to the Wakefield Independence Day Committee.