Gemini carnival club will close unless it finds new home

A carnival club that has been running for more than 25 years says it may have to close if it cannot find a new home.

Gemini, based in Ilminster, has won the top prize in the Somerset Guy Fawkes Carnival circuit three times and has been running since 1997.

But the club has been asked to leave the building where it constructs its carts by the landowner and needs to find a new home by January 2025.

Bradley Lawrence, cart captain of the club, said: "It's very worrying."

He said the club had been "very successful" since the pandemic but is worried about the future.

In the past, carnival clubs would often build their carts on farm land but not enough farmers offer their land to carnival clubs anymore, Mr Lawrence said.

"Carnival is dying. We've been actively looking (for an alterative home) and we're trying to push on.

"Everyone is motivated and hopefully something will come up between now and this time next year," he added.

Gemini has been asked to leave the land it has been renting for 17 years.

The club said the landlord had been supportive and given them a long notice period.

Mr Lawrence said the news came at a time when the club was "thriving again".

"We're gaining more and more members," Mr Lawrence said.

"But the daunting thing is by the start of next year we have to be out and we don't know where we're going currently.

"If we can't find anywhere, the sad truth is, that is it," he added.

Mr Lawrence said the the pickings had been slim in its search for a new home.

"It's going to be a hard job. We're aiming to be out by the end of September and then take the shed down," he added.

The Somerset Guy Fawkes Carnival circuit is a tradition that dates back to the Gunpowder Plot in 1605.

Local clubs build carts for a big parade to raise money for charities, with thousands of people lining the streets to see the spectacle pass by.

Follow BBC West on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [email protected]