Bridgwater Carnival organisers are celebrating after receiving support from Arts Council England for the fourth consecutive year.
A grant for £31,926 has been awarded for the 2015 Bridgwater Carnival celebrations by the Government funded body, who has the responsibility of distributing money from the Government and National Lottery to the development of arts in England.
Chris Hocking, commercial officer and life member of Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival Committee, said: “This is absolutely fantastic news for everybody associated with our carnival, and I would like to thank Arts Council England for their much needed support and for recognising the role our carnival related activities play in the development of arts in Somerset.
“This money will enable us to continue and increase the work we are doing with local schools in spreading the carnival word, and also to provide a full programme of top class entertainment on carnival day itself.”
This year five separate educational carnival projects have been arranged for local school children to participate in. These include workshops to build lanterns from recycled materials which children can then carry in two lantern parades over carnival weekend, a visual arts project where children can decorate carnival masks, a literacy competition where budding poets and writers can showcase their talents which has been sponsored by Wilkie, May & Tuckwood, a design and build a model carnival cart competition and a choreographed dance parade through the town centre on carnival day itself.
The entertainment for carnival day is still being finalised, and will be confirmed over the next couple of weeks.
“This year’s Bridgwater Carnival activities will be the greatest we have ever staged in the town, with something for everyone to enjoy,” continued Chris.
“Sadly, other carnivals and events have faltered this year, but Bridgwater Carnival goes from strength to strength and we are extremely grateful to Arts Council England and local businesses and organisations for recognising the importance of our event and for supporting the vital role we play in the community.”
