Mornington Peninsula summer: Rosebud Carnival gone, Rye Carnival going
Rosebud Carnival won’t be held this summer. And it has nothing to do with coronavirus.
South East
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After more than 60 summers on the Mornington Peninsula the carneys are being moved on.
Rosebud Carnival will not be held again and its sister event in Rye will also be closed in April 2022.
The nostalgic attractions were run by the Wittingslows – one of Australia’s oldest carnival families.
Michael Wittingslow said he was sorry to see the Rosebud event close, after Mornington Peninsula Shire decided not to renew its lease.
“It is an end of an era and it's a shame that there isn’t space for this kind of entertainment on the foreshore,” he said.
“I guess that’s what progress looks like.”
The ferris wheel that has featured on the Rosebud foreshore for decades has been dismantled and placed in storage.
Mr Wittingslow said the future of the wheel was not clear: “We’ll think about that next year,” he said.
The Wittingslows employed about 100 people across both sites for the summer season.
Locals took to social media to share their memories of the Rosebud Carnival.
“Sad to see it go, a Rosebud icon. More history by the wayside,” Lyn Auld posted.
“We spent so much time at the carney as kids. It’s a little sad to see the old ferris wheel going,” Relle Maso posted.
Mornington Peninsula Shire property and strategy manager Nathan Kearsley said the council had decided in April 2016 to licence Wittingslow Carnivals for a final period of four years at Rosebud.
“This was after the carnival site was identified in the Rosebud Coastal Management Plan as the central activity space for the whole of the Rosebud foreshore,” Mr Kearsley said.
“We are currently consulting with key stakeholder groups from the Rosebud community on how we can best activate that site in the interests of all community users.”
A similar change would be made at Rye in 2022 as the council revitalised the entire foreshore as part of its $6.5 million Rye Township Plan.
Community consultation on the linked Rye Foreshore Master Plan was recently completed and the carnival site will be transformed into public open space for formal and informal events.
Mr Wittingslow was confident the Rye Carnival would return this summer, despite lockdown restrictions.
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