2023 is the 418th anniversary of The Gunpower Plot, and the origins of Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival can be traced back to when Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators failed in their attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605.
Distance wise, the procession route is just over 1.7 miles long, and the carnival will take more than 2 hours to pass any one viewing point.
Over 2,000 people will be involved with the 98 entries taking part in this year’s carnival, with 1,000 of these performing in the procession.
Over 400,000 individual lights (lamps and LEDs) will illuminate the skyline as the carts meander around the streets of Bridgwater on Saturday 4 November.
Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival has become more environmentally friendly and sustainable in recent times, and just over 3 Megawatts of electricity will power the 44 carnival carts in this year’s carnival procession. This compares to 2016, when over 12 megawatts of electricity powered the 45 carnival carts taking part.
500 traffic (red and white) cones, 100 clearway signs, and 200 road traffic (orange) barriers, will be set out by the carnival committee’s road traffic team in readiness for the 2023 carnival. The first was laid out on Wednesday 1 November, and the last will be collected late on Sunday 5 November. 80 radios will be in operation during the event.
Since 2000 Bridgwater Carnival related activities have raised over £526,772 for the official Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival charity and other local supported charities. At this year’s event over 300 collectors will be on the streets on carnival night with over 400 collection buckets, supporting the 6 collection carts in the procession and collecting money for the Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival charity and 34 other charities and community groups.
Various research projects and studies have concluded that Bridgwater Carnival is worth an estimated £4,000,000 annually to the local economy – £2,000,000 during the weekend of the carnival and a further £2,000,000 from carnival related activities throughout the year.
75 coaches and minibuses have pre-booked to attend Bridgwater Carnival 2023.
All 1,954 grandstand seats in the 12 grandstands lining the procession route have been sold.
37 cups and trophies will be awarded on carnival night by our 66 judges. Before the results are announced on the evening, 2,574 separate judging scores will be entered onto laptops to ascertain which entries came where.
33 trade stands will line the procession route on carnival night.
Approximately 200 people are expected to take part in this year’s squibbing display. The squibs are 300mm long by 200mm in circumference and hold approximately 1lb of gunpowder. 2023 marks 307 years since the first recorded evidence of squibbing in Bridgwater back in 1716.
30 companies and organisations are official sponsors of Bridgwater Carnival 2023.
For the past 10 consecutive years (excluding the Covid years), Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival has been supported and awarded grants by Arts Council England – the Government funded body, who has the responsibility of distributing money from the Government and National Lottery to the development of arts in England.
27,305 people follow the official Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival Facebook page.
5,881 people follow Bridgwater Carnival’s official Twitter account.
1,312 people follow Bridgwater Carnival’s official Instagram account.
