Shropshire Star

Date set for scaled-down Bridgnorth carnival after washout

A new date has been set for a stripped-back version of Bridgnorth's annual carnival.

Published
Bridgnorth Carnival

The event, planned to take place on September 22, will focus on the procession and honouring the carnival royalty.

An array of flamboyant floats will take the normal route around the town, but will finish in High Street rather than Severn Park.

The scaled-down event will not feature any carnival activities in the park, and instead will culminate with "light entertainment" in the grounds of Bridgnorth Castle.

The event was meant go ahead on Sunday June 23 but torrential rain saw Severn Park, situated next to the River Severn, completely waterlogged in the run-up to the date.

Sarah Barlow, chair of Bridgnorth Events & Christmas Committee, said the council was aware of the hard work and effort that had gone into preparing this year's carnival.

Enjoyed

She said: "It's very well having lots of entertainment and I know people enjoy it, it's great to stay and party as long as possible, however people have put a lot of time and effort into making floats and voting for the carnival royalty, so that should be the main focus.

"There will still be stuff going on after the procession in the castle grounds which can be enjoyed by everyone.

"We've had to slightly change the event due to the lack of manpower and lack of time, but the procession route will be as normal, but end in High Street."

She added: "There are a lot of members of staff off at the moment and we haven't got a lot of volunteers – road closures in particular take a lot of organising so we decided to focus on the procession and carnival royalty."

Deputy Mayor, councillor Ron Whittle said the new date will be confirmed at an upcoming meeting.