The Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival spectacle never truly receives the UK wide recognition and exposure it so richly deserves, writes Bridgwater Carnival Publicity Director, Dave Stokes.

This is why it’s so exciting when our carnival does actually make it into the national media, and I am delighted to tell you during the coming weeks the carnival is set to be featured in a prime time Channel 5 television documentary travelogue called ‘Somerset: Wonder of the West Country’.

The series, also known as ‘Somerset: Country and Coast’ will be broadcast from Thursday, February 29, 8pm, and we will of course confirm which of the weekly episodes focuses on Bridgwater Carnival  nearer the time.

A film crew were in the town in the weeks and days leading up to last year’s carnival filming content for the documentary.

As well as following and interviewing members of Lime Kiln Carnival Club, the crew also spoke to and filmed other carnivalites involved with our prestigious event.

This will be great publicity for our event, the town, our county carnivals, and Somerset as a whole, and we sincerely hope this signifies the start of more nationwide media coverage of our carnival. We have such a great story to tell.

Looking ahead to this year’s carnival on Saturday, November 2, I can exclusively reveal the tickets for our all seater grandstands can be pre-ordered from Friday 1 March.

Costing £30 each, the tickets can be purchased online from Bridgwater Carnival’s official website shop (www.bridgwatercarnival.org.uk), or from the Carnival Centre, from 9am on the day.

There has been a slight increase in the cost of the tickets this year, and this has been necessary due to supplier elevated hire costs.

There are only a handful of grandstand suppliers in the country, and we are doing everything we can to keep the tickets affordable.

Demand for the grandstand tickets remain high, and all 1,954 grandstand tickets for our 2023 carnival were sold weeks in advance of the big day.

In other news and since my last column, I am pleased to report we have secured another official sponsor for this year’s carnival.

MEH Alliance have confirmed their involvement in Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival for the second consecutive year, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their generous help and support.

If you or your company would like to learn more about becoming an official carnival sponsor, email me at davestokes@bridgwatercarnival.org.uk, drop into the Carnival Centre in the High Street, or visit our official website (www.bridgwatercarnival.org.uk).