THERE will be fun on land, sea and in the sky at Felixstowe Carnival this weekend as the resort prepares for its biggest and best event yet.With the theme "Into The Future", imaginations have been set loose and organisers are looking forward to some exciting designs of the floats which will take part in the big procession through the town.

THERE will be fun on land, sea and in the sky at Felixstowe Carnival this weekend as the resort prepares for its biggest and best event yet.

With the theme "Into The Future", imaginations have been set loose and organisers are looking forward to some exciting designs of the floats which will take part in the big procession through the town.

Other activities will take place on the seafront and include raft races, a sea rescue display, an aerobatics demonstration, open-air disco, funfair and fireworks.

"Our boast from the start was that this would be the biggest and best Felixstowe Carnival we have ever had – and now it looks set to come true," said carnival secretary Richard Stewart.

"The committee has worked so hard over the past few months, and with the help of other groups and sponsors we have been able to put together what should be a terrific weekend of fun for all the family.

"All we need now is some sunshine and for the rain to keep away – sadly that's the one thing which is not in our control! Traditionally, the carnival has been quite lucky with the weather and we hope that will prove so again."

Carnival Day begins on Saturday at 9am for the Carnival Queen Faye Lloyd and her two princesses Hannah Devine and Megan Small, when they start a tour of the town's residential homes, visiting the elderly occupants.

So far 47 floats have entered for the parade, as well as carnival queens, majorettes and individuals, and the colourful cavalcade will start lining up in High Road East, Rosemary Avenue and Colneis Road from 11am.

The entries will be judged from 1pm by deputy mayor and mayoress, Malcolm and Jo Minns, and it will set off at 3pm.

This year the route has been slightly changed and the parade will not go through the pedestrianised part of Hamilton Road between Boots and Bank Corner because of the potential danger of trying to get 40ft lorries around Bank Corner following the recent environmental enhancement works.

Instead the procession will come round the Orwell Roundabout and down Hamilton Road and past The Triangle and cinema into Crescent Road.

It will go down Highfield Road and swing into Orwell Road, down Garrison Lane, Undercliff Road West to the leisure centre and along the seafront.

Felixstowe Carnival Association is thrilled with the support it has received this year and believes that this can grow with each year's event.

"So many people enjoyed taking part last year that they wanted to be involved again and we hope that more people will join us next year when they see this year what fun it can be," said Mr Stewart.

On Sunday the carnival celebrations will continue when Felixstowe Lions Club holds the resort's raft races, which will start at 2pm and take place on a triangular-shaped race course between the pier and Spa Pavilion theatre.

At 3.30pm high-flying Nigel Willson will be arriving to do a 20-minute aerobatic display in his Yakovlev 52 360hp plane over the sea.

At 4pm the Felixstowe Volunteer Coast Patrol and Rescue Service will present a sea rescue demonstration.

In the evening, there will be a disco near the leisure centre from 8pm and fireworks from the end of the pier at 9pm.

The funfair, which will be on Pier Bight, Undercliff Road West, opens tonight with a half-price night from 6pm to 11pm. It will be open from 6pm to 11pm tomorrow , and 11am to 11pm on Saturday and Sunday.