Carnival organizers have apologized after Saturday’s parade in Maldon was crashed by a trio of tanned cyclists.
Onlookers were shocked as cyclists joined the procession dressed in costumes and ‘black face’.
They also had ‘War’ written on the back.
The history of blackface goes back to theater plays in the 1800s and 1900s, where white actors performed with their faces painted black to impersonate black people in a stereotypical and harmful light.
An eyewitness called it a “blatant display of racism”.
The Maldon resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “This was absolutely the last thing I would expect to see at a community event, especially such a high profile event which in theory should have been closely monitored by marshals and police.
“While I appreciate they may not have been an official part of the parade, they were just behind the last big group and in front of the final official cars, so they had to be noticed and removed.
“It was shocking to see such a blatant display of racism in the 21st century and many in the crowd around me were equally appalled.
“I contacted the carnival team who assured me that the men wearing ‘black face’ were not part of the official parade and directed me to their statement on Facebook.
“While the statement says the ‘costumes’ were inappropriate, it does not call this behavior racist and does not condemn those who caused the offence.
“Personally, I would have liked to see a much stronger statement.”
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Carnival organizers say they are now looking for ways to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
They hope to have more checkpoints at future carnivals to make sure no one can join the parade without them knowing.
Carnival spokeswoman Louise Pringle said: “We can’t stop people dressing up, but we can put measures in place for next year.
“It is not endorsed by Maldon Carnival at all and we do not want this to reflect on the carnival or Maldon.
“All entries should be registered rather than just joining and if they had been registered we would have rejected them.
“Please accept our sincere apologies if anyone has been offended.”
The Maldon and Burnham Standard have taken the decision not to publish pictures of the men.
