Mystical Shires
Bridgwater Carnival 2017
The timing of the West Country Carnival close to the British celebration of Bonfire night on 5 November is no coincidence, as the roots of the original carnival in Bridgwater date back to 1605. Guy Fawkes is the character most associated with the plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament, however the instigator was Jesuit priest Robert Parsons from Nether Stowey, a short distance from Bridgwater. After the execution of Campion and natural death of Emerson, Parsons continued to plot to restore Catholic power in England, and hence his last ill-fated attempt against parliament and King James VI on 5 November 1605. Bonfire night is a major annual celebration across the whole of England, but it is likely that the reason that the West Country Carnival was originally so keenly celebrated is that the South West towns were predominantly Protestant– hence the celebration of Robert Parsons' (and Guy Fawkes') failure. The religious origins of the event are almost forgotten and far less significant today.
The original Bridgwater celebrations consisted of a large bonfire at the Cornhill. Built out of a large wooden boat, around one hundred tar barrels were added, together with just about anything else available which could be burned. This tradition was stopped due to lack of old wooden boats to burn, and because a number of good boats were thrown onto the fire and burnt by over-enthusiastic revellers. Effigies or "guys" representing the gunpowder plot instigators were added to the fire by local groups of people known as gangs. It would seem it was these gangs who started the trend towards a procession, as they paraded their guys towards the bonfire. As years passed by, the tradition was continued and the annual celebration became more and more elaborate, involving costumes, and music, until the key feature of the event was a large carnival procession.
The local people who dressed up and took part in the public event were known as Masqueraders or Features - terms still used today to describe the parade participants.
There were no parades during the Second World War, but a local carnival enthusiast William Henry Edwin Lockyer also known as "Nosey" walked the carnival route for six years with a group known as The Kilties, to keep the tradition alive.
The Bridgwater carnival first modernised in 1881 and was originally lit by lamps; electric lights were first introduced in 1913.
Bridgwater carnival now consists of a display of over 40 large vehicles up to 100 feet (30 m) long, festooned with dancers and up to 22,000 lightbulbs, that follows a 2.5-mile (4 km) route over two to three hours. 2005 included the Masquerade 2000 entrants from Notting Hill Carnival.
The carnival's purpose is to raise money for local charities from money collection carts in the procession. Between 2003 and 2007, around £115,000 was raised at Bridgwater Carnival.
In 2010, the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded the Carnival in Somerset Promotion Project £41,000 to promote and conserve carnival heritage. The project aims to raise awareness of the history of the carnivals within schools and the local community.
Uniquely in the West Country, the vehicles are called carts, unlike other carnivals where the term carnival float is used. The term cart is still used today to describe the large and elaborate trailers used in the procession. Carts are built by local clubs of individuals funded totally by charitable donations and sponsorship from local businesses. Carts include both music and costumed people to complete their theme. People and items on the cart can either be moving or static in tableau.
Carts or floats are built by local clubs, which as local charities themselves are aimed specifically and solely at raising funds for other charities which operate within their locality. Clubs generate all funds required to build and operate their carts totally by charitable donations from individuals and sponsorship from local businesses— all funds raised during the carnival season are wholly distributed by the club charity. Some carts cost in excess of £20,000 to build and are the result of thousands of man-hours work throughout the year. Most clubs are based around local working or social circles, such as pubs and clubs. Many clubs have specialist Juvenile Carnival clubs for the under 16s. All work is carried out in the spare time of the club members on a voluntary basis– often working all night in the final few days to get carts ready.
