THOUSANDS of people lined the High Street to watch the spectacular squibbing display at yesterday's Bridgwater Carnival 2024. 

Squibbers in this year's display included members from various carnival clubs, and even Bridgwater's MP, Ashley Fox. He said: "I was honoured to take part in the squibbing for the first time as Bridgwater's new Member of Parliament. And proud to use Lord Tom King's Squib Cosh - with his permission."

Squibbing is by definition the simultaneous firing of lots of large fireworks (“squibs”). Many people come to Bridgwater just to see the squibbing as it is an event that can be seen nowhere else in the world. 

The squib itself is a large firework, strapped to a cosh (a solid block of wood which is attached to a large pole). The Squibber holds the squib at arms length above their head with the firework facing toward the sky.

Crowds extended as far as the eye could see from the Cornhill and past the Town Hall. The squib fireworks lasted around 30 seconds before burning out. 2024 featured 205 squibbers, and this year marks an incredible 308 years since the first recorded evidence of squibbing in Bridgwater back in 1716.

See below for the countdown of the squibbing: