OVER three weeks have passed since Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival once again graced the streets of our town.

And what an amazing spectacle it was, writes Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival Publicity Director, Dave Stokes.

There was a fantastic atmosphere throughout the town during both the daytime and in the evening, and the excitement and atmosphere from the watching thousands was something very special.

The standard of every single entry was exceptionally high, and we must take this opportunity to pay tribute and thank all of the carnival clubs and walking entries for putting on such a magnificent show. Every single one did themselves proud.

For those who couldn’t make it into the town on carnival night, the live stream provided a suitable alternative.

Over 59,000 different devices (laptops, computers, mobile phones) accessed the online stream at some point during the 2½ long procession, and this is the highest number of viewers we have ever had tune in to our live stream on carnival night.

Our official charity collection for 2023 was £27,188, and this figure was made up of cash donated on the night, plus text and online donations.

Excluding the pandemic years when the carnival did not take place, over £100,000 has been raised from our collection for the official Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival charity, other charities, local community groups and non for profit organisations.

This is something we are very proud of, and we thank everyone who has donated.

As in previous years, we are very keen to hear feedback about our carnival so we can learn and make further improvements to the spectator experience in the future.

To facilitate this, we have opened an online survey where people who attended this year’s carnival can comment and give feedback on any aspect of our carnival.

Every person who completes the survey, and who leaves a valid email address, will be entered into a prize draw, with the first five out of the hat winning a souvenir Bridgwater Carnival DVD.

We would love to hear from you, and to take part in the survey, please visit www.bridgwatercarnival.org.uk. The closing date is Monday 4 December.

This year’s Somerset County Guy Fawkes Carnivals season came to an end in Glastonbury on Saturday 18 November.

The winners of the prestigious county carnival awards were announced soon after, and there was some well-deserved success for some of our local clubs.

Massive congratulations go to Ramblers CC who share the highly coveted overall county championship (The Starkey Cup) with tableaux champions Huckyduck CC, after winning seven out of seven carnivals with their stunning feature entry Trawlermen.

Marketeers CC were second in the county feature class with their entry Dames, followed by Gremlins CC who were third with The Travelling Show.

Pentathlon CC were second in the tableaux county class with Zulu – Battle of Rorke’s Drift, and Wills CC took fourth place with Coppelius’s Toy Theatre.

Newmarket CC were joint comic county cup winners with their entry Dirty Laundry, and Marina Sydenham JCC came second in the juvenile county class.

Other county winners included, The Academy of Carnival, Rhythm Fever CC, ABC CC, A&A CC, Jacks CC, and Little R, and I must also give a special mention to Hillview JCC who won all seven carnivals with their entry Sweet Dreams and in doing so won the juvenile county class.

I am sure you will join me in congratulating all those clubs, groups and individuals who won county awards, and also all of the other entries who took part in the 2023 carnivals and who helped to make them so very special.

It’s been a spectacular carnival season, and I am already looking forward to 2024.

Until the next time…