THE 53rd annual Taunton Carnival moves off this Saturday at 7pm from Tangier Way bridge down into Wood Street.

It turns right into Bridge Street before proceeding through the town centre into East Street and down East Reach.

The public performance and judging ends at the Wordsworth Drive junction.

The spectacle begins with a cavalcade of Harley Davidson motorcycles around the route followed by Ilminster Majorettes.

Miss Taunton, Carnival Queen Lucy Wheeler, and Carnival Princess Mya Goodman will be near the front of the procession in their gowns, cloaks and tiaras.

Feature, tableau and comic floats will boast hundreds of light bulbs and be interspersed between walking entries, with themes ranging from The Greatest Showman to Cinderella.

As well as entertaining the crowds, they are competing in a dozen classes for trophies and points towards the South Somerset Federation awards.

The procession will take just over an hour to pass any point on the mile-long route.

*In the morning, historic cars and Harley Davidsons will process through the town centre in convoy before forming up in High Street.

Miss Taunton will select the most pleasing vehicle for the Spiller Trophy.

Children can join the mask and hat competition in the Museum of Somerset from 11am to 2pm. Deputy Mayor Cllr Fran Smith will judge the entries and present the Mayor’s Millenium Cup to the winner.

*Taunton Carnival Committee will sell official merchandise during the day in High Street and during the procession.

Official sellers will be on the streets selling 'light-ups’ and toys.

Committee chairman Marilyn House said: "We’re selling quality carnival merchandise ourselves and encourage spectators to buy from the official sellers during the day and from the two official lorries in the evening.

"Proceeds from other traders and pedlars from outside the area don't go to Taunton Carnival or local charities."

*Taunton Carnival Committee organises the procession to provide a spectacle in the town’s calendar and raise money for local charities.

"Our main charity this year is Love Musgrove," said Mrs House.

"Storm Brian seriously affected the street collection last year and reduced the amount we were able to donate to charity, so we decided to support them for a second year.

"They’ll be with us during the day in High Street."

During the evening procession there will be dozens of official collectors on the ground.

Treasurer Roz Swinburne said: "If everyone put £1 or 50p coins into the collection we’d easily make up for last year and more.

"Of course we don’t mind what coins or notes come our way, but we do need a lot of them please. We’re happy if it takes us all day Sunday to count."

*Castle Street will be closed to traffic between the entrance to Tangier and Castle Street car parks as will Tangier Way down to the junction with Wood Street from 2pm to allow the entries to assemble ahead of the evening’s show. Access to Tesco and Lidl will not be affected, but Enfield car park will be closed all day.

The town centre will be closed at 6.30pm so the route can be cleared of traffic before the crowds move in to line the pavements.

Through traffic is directed away from the centre to keep it moving and keep a clear access to Musgrove Park Hospital.

The official east-west diversion is via Priory Avenue, Trenchard Way (NIDR), Staplegrove Road, Silk Mills Road and Wellington Road.

No vehicles will be able to leave Wood Street, Yarde Place, Haydon Road or Victoria Gate on to the route between 6.30pm and around 9pm.

There will be an alternative route out of the Wood Street area via Cleveland Street and French Weir Recreation Ground.

*The carnival committee works with the emergency services to ensure everything on and off the procession route runs smoothly.

There are marshals along the route supported by police, with St John Ambulance crews in case of accidents to participants or spectators.

Senior staff from the emergency services and other agencies get together with the organisers in a joint control room.

The carnival clubs have safety guidelines and good practice notes to follow to keep people safe.

*Planning the event is a round-the-clock activity, with much of the work behind the scenes.

Carnival secretary John Lewis said: "Every year is different and brings its own challenges.

"We meet with the local safety advisory group hosted by Taunton Deane, where we discuss issues with the emergency services and county highways and form an event management plan.

"This gives us a safe platform for all the clubs and individuals who spend many hours to bring the spectacle to life on the night. I’d like to thank all of them and all the volunteers.

"The Performing Rights Society has helped keep costs down by waiving a large part of the copyright fees due for musical entertainment.

"Our ambition is always to give to our charities everything we collect on Saturday plus a little bit more.

"Inevitably costs go up every year for the background things like insurance, traffic management and health and safety.

"Carnival is not a cheap event to put on and the committee organises Taunton Marathon and Half Marathon and 10k aces earlier in the year to bring in the money we need.

"We’ve had sponsorship and support from lots of local companies over the years for many of our activities - without them none of this would happen."

*For more information, visit tauntoncarnival.co.uk

If you wantike to help in any way, contact Marilyn House on 01823-289395 (e-mail mail@marilynhouse.co.uk or John Lewis on 01823-283892 (e-mail jsilewis@btinternet.com)

*Taunton Carnival 2018 Order of Procession.

No Name of Club/Entrant Title of Entry Class.

1 Quality Carnival Merchandise Quality Carnival Merchandise.

2 Ilminster Majorettes Ilminster Majorettes 12.

3 Ringwood PA Ringwood PA.

4 Miss Taunton & the Carnival Princess Miss Taunton & Princess Support Vehicle.

5 Miss Taunton & the Carnival Princess Miss Taunton & Princess Float.

6 Make Performing Arts Flying to Neverland 10.

7 Collection Vehicle Taunton Scouts.

8 Oake Manor Golf Club Oake Manor 11.

9 Generations CC Greatest Show on Earth 5.

10 Family's r us Unicorns Dream 9.

11 The Breeze The Breeze 11.

12 Kai Newbery Little Chief 7.

13 Wookey Hole Winter Wonderland at Wookey Hole 11.

14 One + One CC Afro Circus 3.

15 Fantasy CC Way out West 5.

16 Crealy Adventure Park & Resort Crealy Adventure Park & Resort 11.

17 Friends CC Blooms'n'Butterflies 8.

18 Bounce and Burn Bounce and Burn 14.

19 Wellington Carnival Queen & Princesses Wellington Carnival Queen & Princesses.

20 Wellington Majorettes Wellington Majorettes 12.

21 Mike Daniells, The Academy of Carnival PC M1KE 5.

22 Taunton Thespians Oh What A Lovely War 14.

23 A &A CC Skullduggery II 10.

24 The Parker School of Dance & Gymnastics Ocean 9.

25 Juniors Reloaded Monsterz Cruize 4.

26 South Molton Mobility Aclands Mobows 5.

27 Collection Vehicle Bridgwater Guy Fawkes CC.

28 Bridgwater Guy Fawkes CC Bridgwater Guy Fawkes 14.

29 Philip Hutter Mickey Mouse 6.

30 The Octagon Theatre Aladdin 11.

31 New Direction Majorettes New Direction Majorettes 12.

32 Tacchi Morris Arts Centre Cinderella 11.

33 RJ CC DOG'N'IT 5.

34 Gemini CC P.T Barnum 2.

35 Berry's Coaches Berry's Coaches 11.

36 Roger Muspratt Hamilton Bauta Vogue 6.

37 Xtreme CC Twisted Circus 10.

38 Apple FM CIC Apple FM 14.

39 Collection Vehicle C & D South West.

40 MGJ Classics Classic Car 14.

41 MGJ Classics Classic Car 14.

42 MGJ Classics Classic Car 14.

43 MGJ Classics Classic Car 14.

44 Wellington Pantomine Group Cinderella 2019 9.

45 Zem CC Diwali - Festival of Light 5.

46 Nancy Stephenson Heart Princess 7.

47 Lorna Stephenson Candy Sweetness 7.

48 Eclipse CC Mhusika 1.

49 Chard Carnival Royalty Chard Royalty.

50 Staplegrove Scout Group Norton's Dancing Dragon 9.

51 Spirit CC Can Can Can 6.

52 Blackbrook & Silver Street Guides The Greatest Showgirls 13.

53 PA Vehicle Denis & Ian Pearce.

54 Poppe Inne CC Itsy Bitsy 3.

55 Happy CC Clown Around 8.

56 Merriott Majorettes Merriott Majorettes 12.

57 Tizzys CC (Academy of Carnival) Just Another Carnival Entry 8.

58 Limelight Theatre Illumin-ocean 13.

59 Judy Williams Shades of Autumn 6.

60 Harlequin CC The Greatest Show 1.

61 Breakdown Vehicle Frosts.

Federation Classes - 1 Feature; 2 Tableau; 3.

Comic; 4 Youth; 5 Open; 6 Adult Single Walker; 7.

Juvenile single Walker; 8 Walking Pair; 9 Walking

Group; 10 Walking Open

Non-Federation Classes - 11 Trade; 12

Majorettes; 13 Youth Walking; 14

Supporters (not judged).