THE standard of performance arts in Bridgwater continues to be exceptionally high, and this was evident once again at the recent front of curtain act auditions for this year’s carnival concerts.

I was one of the 54 judges, and we all had a really difficult task in selecting just 12 acts out of the 22 who auditioned to go through to appear at the concerts between 2 - 14 October.

As mentioned previously in this column, the thought of performing on a stage absolutely petrifies me, and I have the utmost respect for anyone with a talent and who has the courage to get up onto a stage and show it to others.

A massive well done to every single act who auditioned. You made Bridgwater proud. And for those who did not make it through, we would love to see you back auditioning next year. 

Bridgwater Mercury: A group of entertainers at the front of curtain act auditionA group of entertainers at the front of curtain act audition (Image: Contributed)

Having strong and robust cyber security in our everyday lives is essential for us all to protect our individual and personal data, and Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival is no different.

Charities and organisations like ourselves are increasingly at risk from cyber-attacks, and we are currently in the process of enhancing our defences to protect our data.

When I first joined the carnival committee back in 2003, we had very little electronic data to worry about.

Since then times have changed dramatically.

We now have a very popular event website which attracts well over 100,000 visitors every year, we use emails to communicate more efficiently with each other and the outside world, and we have a very strong social media presence.

These are just some examples of where we now have data and are at risk, and losing any of this to a cyber-attack could be potentially disruptive and very damaging to us.

It would also impact us financially as we would need to pay for clean-up and recovery costs.

Using good cyber practices is essential for us all. It just goes to show that organising a carnival in the 21st century is far more complicated than it ever used to be.

There have been a handful of ill-informed comments on social media regarding the grants Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival Committee have recently been awarded for the Bristol Road redevelopment project, and I thought it would be useful to bring some clarity.

Of course, we would love to be able to give some of this money to other carnival towns and entrants, but under the terms of any grant, we are unable to do so.

All money from a grant needs to be spent on the project and purpose for which the grant was originally awarded for, and every single penny has to be accounted for and backed up by receipts.

Stringent reporting during and at the end of the project is required which will demonstrate that funding has been spent in accordance with the terms of the grant.

And finally, it’s great to see our carnival continuing to be so popular all over the UK.

This is very evident from the towns and cities we are sending grandstand tickets to for those who have purchased them online for this year’s big procession on Saturday, November 4.

Tickets have been sent to Ashford, Barnstaple, Burnley, Colchester, Cwmbran, Hemel Hempstead, Skegness, London, Northallerton and Preston, to name just a few places, and our carnival appeal continues to engage far and wide.

If you would still like to watch the procession from the comfort of one of our grandstands, then tickets are still available.

They cost £28 and can be purchased from this website.

Until the next time…

Written by Dave Stokes