Thousands Turn Out for Illuminated Carnival Procession in Bridgwater

Rock shows, a circus big top, and Del Boy Trotter's three-wheeler from Only Fools and Horses all rolled through the streets of Bridgwater, Somerset, in an illuminated carnival procession that drew thousands of spectators. Some of those watching had travelled from other parts of the country to see it.

The carts at the centre of the procession are not put together in a hurry. The clubs that build them spend the entire year preparing for this one night, so the themes on show, from stage-lit rock performances to the ringmaster's tent of a circus, represent months of work by the people who made them.

Dan Prosser, of the Renegades Carnival Club, described that commitment as more like a lifestyle than just a hobby. He also admitted that friends who have nothing to do with carnival think his devotion to it is absolutely nuts. It is a candid line, and it points to the gap between those inside the carnival world and those who only see the finished spectacle.

The evening closed with squibbing. In this tradition, a large firework is strapped to a solid block of wood on the end of a pole and then lit. A total of 210 people took part in this year's squibbing, among them the local MP, Sir Ashley Fox.

The reporting is brief, and it does not say how many thousands attended, which clubs entered, or how many carts were in the procession. What it does establish is the shape of the event: a year of preparation by the clubs, a crowd drawn from well beyond Somerset, and a finale in which 210 people, an MP among them, lit fireworks on poles. The Renegades and the other clubs will presumably be back to work on next year's carts before long, given that, by Prosser's account, the work never really stops.