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Bridgwater Carnival team prepares Queen's cart

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Project coordinator Chris Hocking said: "after two fallow years, the pageant has focused people's minds, bringing them back into carnival"

The Somerset carnival team invited to appear in the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Pageant said they were "buzzing" with excitement as work was well under way.

Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival received the special invitation nine months ago and said it was busy building a bespoke cart for the London spectacle.

A team spokesman said: "To be invited to take Bridgwater Carnival in front of her majesty is a great honour."

The pageant is due to take place on 5 June.

Alan Windsor from the team said: "When I was first approached I felt complete excitement.

"It's going to give Bridgwater Carnival an almighty boost.

A man with a helmet causing sparks with a machine
Chris Hocking said: "We're creating something that will be the pride of Bridgwater and the pride of Somerset"

"There's some serious heavy metal for moving parts and some really intricate woodworking designs, which are truly fantastic.

"All the people who do it are volunteers but their skill level is unsurpassable."

Somerset's Guy Fawkes Carnivals are the largest illuminated processions in Europe with thousands of people typically lining the streets to see the spectacle pass by.

The annual event boasts a procession numbering nearly 100 floats or carts and travels to seven towns across Somerset through the month of November.

Due to the pandemic, the traditional carnivals were postponed in 2020 and were replaced by walking parades in 2021.

Drawing plans of the cart
Chris Hocking said the design was "all singing, all dancing" and included some 70-80 street dancers too

Chris Hocking, the project co-ordinator for the pageant entry said not having the normal carnival has "worked very well because in a normal year, we may not have been able to get the volunteers to create the cart.

"Being asked to take part in the pageant is a fantastic honour and privilege [and] it truly reflects the spectacular entries" they have each year.

He added: "It's a features cart so 'all singing, all dancing' and around 70-80 dancers on the street too.

Drawn plans
Thousands of people are involved in the platinum jubilee pageant
Two men building a cart
The team said progress on the cart was beginning to move along quite nicely

"So many people wanted to be involved, there wasn't enough room on the cart for everyone."

Mr Hocking said the team was "hoping our entry will put a smile on the Queen's face, show her how much we respect her, and that the day will cheer her up tremendously."

The team aims to complete the cart a month before the pageant, although Mr Windsor said: "In true Bridgwater carnival style there may be a few last minute panics, but we're quietly confident".

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