Many residents have fond memories of the carnival held in the village on the August Bank Holiday weekend during the 1970s. The procession of imaginatively decorated floats, unusual vehicles, decorated bikes and marching bands made its way around Marks Tey and ended with a fete and prizegiving. Local businesses and village groups organised and decorated their floats which were built around a range of interesting vehicles from tractors, milk floats, horse-drawn carriages and even an old-time threshing machine. Alongside the procession people in fancy dress collected donations in plastic buckets for local charities.

This popular event was co-ordinated by the Marks Tey Residents Association. A committee formed to organise the fun and T-shirts were handed to members. Once the carnival procession finished the fete could get underway with stalls, sideshows and refreshments. In 1980, the fete took place on Jubilee Field and was opened at 3pm by Steve Leslie, a midfield player at Colchester United. This was followed by the presentation of trophies with prizes for the winners in categories including most humorous, most artistic, best individual, best walking entry and best decorated bicycle. After this were group displays and family games, races and the ever-popular tug of war.