Here in the Westcountry we have a fantastic tradition of evening carnivals. They begin in early September and run through the autumn and into the festive season. Our carnivals are spectacular due to the diversity of the participants and the atmosphere created, as they are held in the evenings with the added impact of street, or Christmas, lights. Spectators should expect to see majorettes, brass bands, small walking groups in bright costumes right up to huge moving floats. Their appeal is particularly wide ranging as they are loved by children and OAPs alike!
Carnival carts (floats) are built each year, on a different theme, by local clubs, who run lots of fund-raising events throughout the year to fund their displays. These clubs then enter their carts into different carnivals across the region both to impress the public and also to be judged. Competition is fierce between clubs to win the prestigious accolades. To give you an idea of how impressive these cars are, they can be up to 100ft long, 16ft high and 11ft wide and some of them have up to 30,000 light bulbs. One of the most popular carnivals in the area is Bridgewater, which has such a large possession that they often have crowds of 150,000 people. Carnivals are completely free to the public, but collectors do hope that visitors will be kind enough to make a small donation for local charities when they come round with their labelled buckets. 
Here is a list of upcoming carnivals:
15th October 2016 – Taunton – 7pm
22nd October 2016 – Honiton – 7.30pm
5th November 2016 – Bridgewater – 7pm
13th November 2016 – North Petherton – 7pm
16th November 2016 – Shepton Mallet – 7.30pm
More information can be found on the following links:
http://www.somersetcarnivals.co.uk/index.asp
http://www.westcountrycarnivals.co.uk/
Sally Maynard