Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival is promising a full day of free entertainment, music, dance and family fun on Saturday 7 November 2026, as the town builds towards the world-famous evening procession and squibbing display.
This year’s Carnival Day programme will see entertainment spread throughout Bridgwater town centre, with performances at the Cornhill Stage, High Street Performance Area, St Mary’s Church, Angel Place Shopping Centre and across the town.
For 2026, however, there is an exciting new addition to the programme, with Bridgwater Arts Centre being used as a Carnival Day entertainment venue for the very first time.
The collaboration is particularly fitting as the Arts Centre celebrates its 80th anniversary. Founded in 1946, Bridgwater Arts Centre has the distinction of being recognised as the first Arts Centre of its kind in the UK, making its inclusion in Carnival Day during this milestone year especially significant.
In another first for the Carnival Day programme, the Arts Centre will host a specially selected programme celebrating international cultures, music and dance, reflecting the diversity of both Bridgwater and the wider carnival audience.
Beginning at 11.30am, Milly Riquelme will bring the sounds and rhythms of Cuban music to the venue, followed at 12.30pm by Sedef, showcasing Bulgarian dance. At 1.15pm, Dawn from HK will perform, before the programme concludes from 2pm with Tambore, featuring Colombian dance, alongside the Rhythms of Peru.
The Arts Centre programme adds a genuinely international dimension to a day which already showcases a huge variety of entertainment and demonstrates that Bridgwater Carnival is about far more than the spectacular procession for which it is famous.
Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival Publicity Director, Lewis White and Day Entertainment Coordinator, Chris Hocking, said:
“We are incredibly excited to include Bridgwater Arts Centre in our Carnival Day programme for the first time, and there could hardly be a more appropriate year to do it as the venue celebrates its 80th anniversary.
Bridgwater Carnival has always been about bringing people together, and this year we wanted the Arts Centre programme to celebrate some of the different cultures, music and dance which make our community and our audiences so diverse.
From Cuban music and Bulgarian dance to Colombian and Peruvian influences, it will offer something quite different within our Carnival Day programme. We hope people will come along, experience these fantastic performers and also celebrate one of Bridgwater’s most important cultural venues during its landmark anniversary year.
Carnival is steeped in tradition, but it is also an event which continues to evolve. Bringing international entertainment into the programme at the Arts Centre for the first time is another example of that.”
Elsewhere, the Cornhill Stage will feature a packed programme from 10.30am, including Black Velvet Band, Shalana Serafina, Barnacle Buoys, Westcan, The Vixens, Talisha Sings, Two Tone and Ashley Ross Quinn.
The High Street Performance Area will showcase local groups alongside visiting performers, including Fox King Dance Academy, Westover Green School, Bridgwater Rock Choir, Julia McDonald Dance Co, Bridgwater Sea Cadets, Farmyard Circus Cabaret, Bubbles LaFae, The Lifesaver and Gugge 2000.
Entertainment continues at St Mary’s Church, with Somerset Songbirds, Wells City Band and Bridgwater Rock Choir, while Angel Place Shopping Centre will feature MADE Community Youth Theatre, Krazy Kev & Dinky, YMTC, Barnacle Buoys, Lucy Lost-It and Simon the Shanty Harpist. Around the town, visitors can also look out for Marvellous Magical Theatre, Lucy Lost-It, Bubbles La Fae, the Magical Musical Bike and children’s fairground rides.
And, of course, all of the daytime entertainment builds towards the event which attracts thousands of spectators to Bridgwater each year.
At 6pm, the spectacular Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival procession will take to the streets, followed by Bridgwater’s unique simultaneous squibbing display in the High Street, providing a spectacular finale to Carnival Day.
Bridgwater Carnival Day takes place on Saturday 7 November 2026, with daytime entertainment beginning from 10.30am. Performance times and artistes may be subject to change.
