Bridgwater Carnival Life Member: What you can expect in 2024

It’s not the hills that will be filled with the sound of music on carnival day Saturday, November 2, but the streets of Bridgwater most certainly will be.

In fact the whole town centre will be bursting at the seams with live music and family entertainment throughout the day as the town gets ready for its greatest night of the year.

Music to suit all tastes will echo around the Cornhill from 10.30 in the morning ‘til early evening. Here, familiar local artistes feature in the line-up alongside the Footloose Four jazz band and Diamond Dolly, a wonderfully authentic Dolly Parton tribute who captures every lilt in her voice and every stitch in her costumes.

There will be a mixture of dance, choir singing, marching bands, samba music and street theatre in the High Street where the highly talented young people of the Fox King Dance Academy get proceedings off to a very energetic start. Watch out too for some amazing acrobatics and antics from Man On The Moon, the military precision of the Medina Marching Band from the Isle of Wight, and the rhythmic sounds of the Street Heat Samba Bands. These are just a few highlights of the programme in this location. Check our website for more details (www.bridgwatercarnival.org.uk).

A very popular local group of young performers, ACTS, will be entertaining audiences throughout the morning in the Angel Place Shopping Centre. Their repertoire includes many well-known songs from hit musical shows and is certain to attract a large audience. The afternoon programme at this venue includes magic from James Alexander, as well as music courtesy of the Little Big Horns and YMTC. There’s also Prof. James Gordon’s Famous Punch and Judy show for younger members of the audience to enjoy and they will certainly find this all absorbing and mesmerising.

The Somerset Songbirds will be singing their hearts out in the historic surrounds of St Mary’s Church late morning on carnival day.  The Wells City Band then take centre stage at midday in the same venue, before the Bridgwater Rock Choir provide audiences with a melodious finale.

After seeing all of this, you will certainly be ready for some refreshments.  So head for the Town Hall where our carnival catering crew will be ready and waiting to serve up hot and cold drinks as well as homemade cakes and a delicious array of snacks. All proceeds will be added to our carnival charity which means that this is another way in which you can help secure the future of our event.

The Bridgwater Carnival Day Entertainment Programme has been a regular feature since 2012 and has certainly become a popular addition to our festivities for the thousands of visitors who flock to our town early in readiness for the evening parade and squibbing.  As well as entertaining the public it provides a significant boost to the local economy with pubs, restaurants and retailers in the town centre all experiencing one of their busiest days of the year.

Funding for this year’s programme has come from the Animating Bridgwater project, part of the Town Deal which aims to help ‘level up’ the area and create a vibrant and welcoming town centre – which unquestionably the carnival day and evening events undoubtedly achieve.