Carnivals and fairgrounds are “busier now than they have ever been” despite the pandemic forcing many across the country to come to halt, one showman said.  

The shiny rides and attractions may change, but year after year the same families will visit Glasgow’s Irn-Bru carnival at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC).   

Not many will know that better than Charlie Horne, who has been working at the festive event for 30 years and is the fifth generation of his family to do so.  

“It is quite amazing to see,” the 68-year-old said. “A lot of the time it’s the same people that have been there year after year.”  

“People are looking for more all the time. That event campus over Christmas is always busy.  

“A lot of it has to do with tradition. Their grandparents and their parents bring them because that’s what they did when they were younger.  

“Even though it has moved location in the last few years, it still carried on the same way, and I think it will keep going. The fairground business is stronger than it has ever been.” 

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Alongside being a festive tradition passed down from generation to generation, Mr Horne cites as constant improvements to the rides and equipment as a driver for the carnival’s popularity. 

He said: “The rides have moved on drastically. The safety side of it is fantastic. There are new rides coming out all the time now and there are more popular rides now than ever.” 

Others have grown “obsolete” such as the motorbike speedway which used to one of the “main” favourites at Kelvin Hall, he said.  

The Herald: Johnny Beattie with wife Kitty Lamont, daughter Maureen and sons Paul and Mark at the Kelvin Hall carnival in 1963Johnny Beattie with wife Kitty Lamont, daughter Maureen and sons Paul and Mark at the Kelvin Hall carnival in 1963 (Image: NQ)

The Glasgow carnival, which is Europe’s largest indoor funfair, is now in its 103rd year and moved to its current location in 1985. 

Carnival traditions do not just emerge for visitors, but also for those who make the event happen.  

Mr Horne remembers his grandfather running the carnival when it was still in Kelvin Hall which he remembers for its “great atmosphere”.  

“The traditions of Kelvin Hall have carried on to the SEC,” he said.  

“It was a great time for us because all the young ones in the fairground used to meet at Kelvin Hall. It was a meeting place every day for eight weeks for the children. 

“It was a meeting place every day for eight weeks for the children, especially when it was a holiday from school, so I have got great memories of it.” 

That is now equally the case at the SEC as the busiest period of the year brings the “tight-knit community” together.  

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While the holidays might give some the opportunity for a break from work, for those in the fairground business there is only one day off in the seven-day work week.  

“Christmas day is the only day we have off and we get back to work on Boxing Day,” Mr Horne said adding that the day is spent with the closest family.  

However, despite no stop to the work until the end of January, there is no lack of festive cheer.  

“People are out there enjoying themselves and smiling, and I think to myself, what a nice way to earn a living - making others cherry and happy.  

“We are living a life of people enjoying themselves, moving about all over the country, seeing different things, different parts of our part of the world

“It’s a nice way of living and most never move from that business.”  

That is certainly the case for the Horne family as his son will be the sixth generation to join the family business.   

Meanwhile, his grandchildren have told him their picks of the rides they would like to run, alongside ambitions of becoming professional footballers.  

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For the 68-year-old taking on the carnival, was an easy choice. He said: “I never had any doubt that that’s what I would do. 

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Speaking on the annual appeal of the funfair, he added: “It sticks in people’s minds, of what they did with their children. 

“I think because it is so different when you go there with the lights and the music it sticks with you.  

“It is like going to a concert, there is always one concert that sticks in your mind, and I think the fairgrounds are like that. 

“The whole atmosphere, if you are a small child, it is amazing. The lights and technology now is marvellous, and it just makes it all the better.”  

And Mr Horne has no plans of leaving that festive atmosphere any time soon.  

He joked: “Someone once asked me ‘when do you retire’ and I said’ fairground people don’t retire, they just fade away’.”