Kathy Webber leads the group, which meets at a farm near Guy’s Marsh. “We’re a junior family carnival club,” Kathy said. “We were once the Big Revellers with a full-size float. Now we just have children—and a lot of fun.”The original Revellers launched in 1994, but the Mini Revellers group was formed shortly before Covid and has now produced six floats. Each year the group picks a theme—past entries have included Ben and Holly, Trolls, Grease, and last year’s more serious float, Fire and Ice. The 2025 concept is being kept under wraps for now.The children don’t just take part in the parades. They’re involved in some early design work, costume-making sanding and painting. “They’re beginning to learn,” said Kathy. “We leave the top coats to the adults, but they help with the undercoats.”It’s a sociable group as well as a creative one. “They don’t all come from the same school,” Kathy said. “Some are from Shaftesbury, others from Gillingham, so they make new friends. They’re usually tearing around the farmyard on bikes!”The Mini Revellers aim to perform at around five carnivals each year, including Shaftesbury, Gillingham, Warminster and Cary.
