Each year during the third week of August, the town of Dawlish holds its annual Carnival event. This attracts thousands of extra visitors to the town, and includes shows and displays held on the Lawn in the middle of the town. The event starts on the Saturday with a flower and craft show held in a tent on the Lawn, with the official Carnival event opening on the Sunday.

Most of the towns folk take part in the Carnival event. The climax of Carnival Week is on the Thursday which is the actual Carnival Day. This starts off around mid-morning with attractions on the Lawn, during the early afternoon the annual Air Show commences, which usually consists of between eight and a dozen first class air displays, including the RAF Red Arrows and Army Blue Eagle display teams. The Air Display is provided FREE by the town, but collections are made towards the huge costs involved.

During the evening of Carnival Day, a procession of floats takes place right through the town, involving local people and visiting groups and clubs. The procession starts around 19.00 and takes over two hours to process through the town.

The highlight of the 2007 Air Display was without doubt a visit by the newest aircraft of the RAF combat fleet the Euro Fighter or Typhoon, the two aircraft attended the event and made several low passes over the down just prior to the carnival, with one aircraft being put through its paces as part of the main display.

The 2008 Carnival is now being arranged.

The illustrations below were taken during the 2007 Carnival air display.