By Roy Weavers

Already this year Carnivale has had one of the funniest starts ever. Courtesy of Sit Down Comedy Club stars Greg Fleet and Lindsay Webb at the Sugar Wharf last night, where they brought the house down and set the scene for what is scheduled to be the best Carnivale ever!

Traditionally the real start of the Port Douglas Carnivale is the Macrossan Street Parade with over 50 floats planning to make the tour. With a large but select crowd of the Port Douglas elite being nicely 'oiled up' during Friday afternoon at both The Sheraton Mirage Longest Lunch and the Zinc bar and Grill Chandon lunch, the festivities will have reached a mighty pace by Saturday morning.

And on this the first weekend of the Carnivale, Saturday morning sees the start of the Queensland Rail Bulls Masters Cricket Festival at the Port Douglas Sports Ground where two 20/20 matches will be thrashed and bashed until late afternoon between four top representative sides including Aussie cricket legends, Matthew Hayden, Ian Healy, Allan Border to name but a few.

But your Saturday hasn't finished yet. The Wine, Food and a taste of Port event is being held at Rex Smeal Park and starts at 5.30pm and travels through until late.

Now if there is anyone left standing, the first weekend concludes with the Seafood Extravaganza, where you can over indulge in the regions finest seafood straight from the boats down at the Meridien Marina on Wharf Street.

The 2011 Carnivale continues all week so to help you plan your activities for the week, we suggest you visit www.carnivale.com.au for the full schedule of events.