Road Closures
In order for us to hold the procession we must close the roads to ensure the safety of those participating as well as those who come to see the spectacular sights. It is the one evening of the year when the Town and visitors come together to watch our spectacular traditional Guy Fawkes Carnival procession. Please be kind to our entrants and volunteers who help to ensure the event passes safely. The marshals will try and assist you in any way they can during the event, but inevitably there will be some things they cannot let you do for the safety of others, so please be considerate and patient, after all it is, at most, only 6 hours out of the 8675 in a year that the event is held in out Town.
We are granted closure orders by the local authorities in order to stage our carnival and publish notices for residents affected in the local newsletter delivered free to all premises in the Town.
The A38 has a contraflow put in place on the Friday evening from about 20:00 onwards between Thurloxton Fruit Farm and the Shearston turning (usually a dual carriageway), for the overnight storage of the participant’s magnificent mounted creations.
We also are allowed to close Moon Lane (except for access for the residents) to safely store some of the smaller spectacular floats. There will be Clearway no stopping / parking orders in force for the route and some local roads in North Petherton, which will be enforced by Somerset Council contractors. Please park with considerations for the residents and legally, ideally in one of the Carnival Car Parks.
The main road closures on the A38 are put in place at 1730 hours on the Saturday evening and will remain in place until it is safe to re open the route, probably by 2300 most will have been lifted, but please be patient if the route you wish to use is still closed, it’s for the safety of all concerned, including you. Following the issues at our Carnival in 2022, there will be LIMITED ACCESS beyond the Huntworth Roundabout for parking at the Sedgemoor Auction / Market Centre ONLY once the roundabout is closed. Alternative parking at Moto Services, Huntworth are signed.
So the A38 between Walford Cross and Huntworth Roundabout is closed at 1730 to enable the procession formation to progress safely through the Town. So ensure that if you wish to park at the Rugby Club you are there in plenty of time before the A38 is closed.
The main dispersal area on the A38 between the Huntworth roundabout and the Showground roundabout closes at about 20:00 on the Saturday evening and is often the last stretch of road to re-open usually between 2300 and midnight. The walking entry dispersal area is on Wilstock Way up to the Widgeon Road junction and this will close at 1730 on the Saturday evening to become a sterile area.
We hope to allow vehicles to travel eastbound from Wilstock/Stockmoor to Huntworth Roundabout until approximately 1945, as long as it is safe to do. This may help to relieve some issues experienced of non residents’ vehicles moving through Stockmoor estate trying to access the A38.
We try and update our Twitter and Facebook pages with actual conditions and updates over the course of carnival day and during/after the procession.
If you have any queries please get in contact
Carnival is one of the Town’s traditional events, please enjoy the spectacle and please work with the marshals to ensure that we have a safe event which we can hold for many more years to come.