WITH just over 31 weeks to Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival returns to our historic streets, preparations are beginning to take shape for the town’s biggest night of the year.

40,000 promotional leaflets are being printed, and these will soon be distributed to tourist attractions, tourist information centres and motorway services all around the country.

Getting the word out early is essential, and we are very aware because of the two year pandemic enforced pause in our carnival celebrations, there will be inevitably some people who wrongly speculate and start rumours that this year’s event is not happening.

This is where we are hoping Bridgwater Mercury readers can help us. If you hear anybody asking about this year’s carnival, please do kindly let them know it’s business as usual and Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival is taking place on Saturday 5 November, 6pm start. Of course more information can be found on our official website (www.bridgwatercarnival.org.uk), and our social media channels - Facebook (@BridgwaterGuyFawkesCarnival), Twitter (@BCarnival), and now Instagram (@bridgwatercarnival).

Tickets for our popular all seater grandstands which line the carnival procession route will also be available to order from Friday, April 1. Costing £21 each (the same as our 2019 price), the tickets will be available online at our official website shop, or from the Carnival Centre, High Street. Tickets may be more limited this year, as some of our grandstand suppliers are quoting extortionate hire prices which we will not pay, and so our advice would be to order them early.

Preparations for our 2022 carnival concerts are also starting to gather pace. This year’s show will take place between Monday 3 October and Saturday 15 October at Bridgwater Town Hall, and we have started the search for local entertainers to be our front of curtain acts. If you think you have what it takes to entertain an audience for five minutes, then please do get in touch. We would love to hear from you. Again further information can be found on our website. Tickets for the 2022 carnival concerts go on sale on Sunday, May 1.

Talking about being on stage, it was great last week to see the carnival clubs back entertaining the public again during the Old Folks Show. This was another established event which had been paused during the pandemic, and listening to the feedback from some of those who attended, the standard of the performances were better than ever. A big well done to everybody who organised the show and who took part.

And finally, we have said this many times before, but we recognise if wasn’t for the generous support we receive from the local business sector, our carnival would not be as successful and enduring as it is. We have now just recently launched our latest sponsorship guide which details how local companies and organisations can get involved and benefit from becoming an official Bridgwater Carnival sponsor partner. If you are interested, please do contact us.

Until the next time…

Dave Stokes, publicity director