The Parkz Update: Movie World Carnivale, July 2014

With the first incarnation of Warner Bros. Movie World's Carnivale behind us, we take a look back at the event.

Image: Parkz.

Update By Richard Wilson
20 July 2014

Carnivale ostensibly owes its genesis to Universal Studios Florida's similarly themed Mardi Gras event. Filling a void in the nine months of the year between Christmas and Halloween, Carnivale offers a sight, sound and food based experience that loosely encapsulates all things New Orleans Mardi Gras, Brazil's Carnivale and just about everything in between with flavours of Caribbean and tropical party and even traditional R&B thrown in for good measure.

The theme is almost deliberately vague; Carnivale doesn't really try to stay true or authentic to any particular culture. Everything is thrown in together and sounds and sights clash to the point where you're more likely to just explode in sensory delight than sit and watch anything with any degree of nuance.

The dining options follow a similar melting pot approach, with a far more adventurous approach than typical theme park fare. Pulled pork buns, po' boys, gumbo, pizza-by-the-slice, ribs and Buffalo wings reveals a more hipster-inspired menu than what you'd typically see from a theme park. Sharing a bit of everything with family or friends seemed the best approach to trying as much as possible. Food prices were quite reasonable by theme park standards; $20-30 a head should see most stomachs filled. The cold weather at this time of the year and lack of heating means most foods lose their heat quickly, so the best advice would be to eat quickly and not spend too long trying to find the perfect seat or table.

Main Street invites you in.

Projections on the Department Store wall.

The whole atmosphere continuously changes down Main Street throughout the night.

Throughout the park there are sideshow acts performing throughout the night.

Acrobats performing throughout the night.

This New Orleans style brass band had the honour of performing in the dark for several hours. A bit of lighting surely wouldn't go astray.

The usual rides were operating all night, though there's more than enough to do at Carnivale without entering a ride queue.

Despite being in the middle of a particularly cold south-east Queensland winter, they created a very warm party atmosphere.

The harlequin pattern on the roof support columns was a particularly nice touch.

Apparently hipster cafe fits into the very loose theme of the event...

The whole area is a cacophony of different performances all night.

The central element of Carnivale its parade finale.

Most of the performers seen roaming around the park feature in the parade.

A giant disembodied doll's head... that's what I think of when I think Carnivale.

Like most parades in recent years at Movie World, the floats are superbly decorated.

King Neptune features on one float.

Nothing says New Orleans Mardis Gras quite like a Ford Ranger and plastic beads.

The riverboat float features towards the end of the parade.

The brass band from earlier finally gets some time to shine.

Like the visuals, the music of Carnivale is very much a pastiche of assorted . Some elements of southern USA, some Caribbean some latin America and plenty of generic party music.

The alligator float captures the swampy voodoo world of New Orleans.

Jester riding a peacock? Check.

Some of the floats are quite bizarre.

Free beads!

Kudos to Movie World for getting the balance between family-friendly and the real vibe of Carnivale or New Orleans pretty spot on.

Despite being more family-friendly than the Halloween nights, there's some pretty trippy things happening at Carnivale.

Carnivale adds some interesting diversity to the calendar; the event features a theme virtually unseen before in Australia, so it'll be interesting to see how it shapes up and really figures out its own personality in years to come.