Final preparations are underway for the Highbridge and Burnham-On-Sea Carnival which is set to take place tonight (Monday, November 5th).
Big crowds are expected to line the streets of Burnham to watch the glittering procession of over 80 entries, which starts at 7.30pm.
Spectators have been getting an early chance to see the impressive range of carts in the daylight, as pictured below. They are currently parked up along Burnham’s Queen’s Drive and the Frank Foley Parkway.
Tonight’s route for Burnham-On-Sea’s carnival
The carnival procession starts at the traffic lights in Love Lane beside Burnham’s Tesco supermarket and proceeds along Love Lane to the Esso filling station.
Then, it proceeds to Manor Road, taking a left into Victoria Street, through the High Street and along Marine Drive to the finish point at the entrance to Burnham Holiday Village.
The first road to close tonight will be the Tesco end of The Frank Foley Parkway at around 6pm with most other roads along the route set to stay open until as close to 6.30pm as possible.
The procession usually takes around one hour to reach the finish line and around one and a half hours to pass any given point along the route.
Organisers say 88 entries will be taking part – and the Carnival is once again set to be a dazzling event, drawing big crowds of up to 30,000 people into Burnham-On-Sea.
Last year’s carnival had a bumper year for fundraising, raising a total of £13,430 – much of which goes to support local groups and organisations – and organisers say they hope visitors will again dig deep.
Phil New, Burnham and Highbridge Carnival Chairman, said: “Everything is in place for a great carnival. We’re all looking forward to it.”
Best places to park on Burnham carnival night
As thousands flock to see the carnival this evening, visitors are being advised by organisers to arrive early to avoid congestion and have the best chance of getting a parking place.
There are five car parks in Burnham-On-Sea which can be used on the night of the event:
- Pier Street
- Oxford Street
- Lynton Road/Marine Drive
- Berrow Road
- South Esplanade
What roads will be closed?
The longest road closures stretch from 9pm on Saturday November 3rd to 1am on Tuesday November 6th. This include:
- From 4.30pm: The Frank Foley Parkway from its junction with Ben Travers Way (North) in a south easterly direction to its junction with Ben Travers Way (South).
- The B3140 Burnham Link Road From Love Lane Roundabout in an easterly direction to its junction with Stoddens Lane.
More than a dozen other roads will be closed from 4pm tonight (Monday) until 1am on Tuesday November 6th, although the organisers are keen to stress that most of these roads close as late as possible up to 6.30pm. These include:
- Ben Travers Way from Tesco’s entrance to its junction with the Frank Foley Parkway
- Ben Travers Way (South) at junction with Frank Foley Parkway
- Berrow Road from Westfield Road to Manor Road
- Church Street (B3139 Burnham Road to A38)
- The Frank Foley Parkway from its junction with Ben Travers Way to Love Lane Roundabout
- Hawley Way from the junction of Ramsay Way to junction of Love Lane
- Highbridge Road from Worston Lane to Oxford Street
- Love Lane from its junction with Manor Road to its junction with the B3140 Burnham Link Road.
- Frank Foley Parkway / Wallace Wells Road Roundabout
- Love Lane / Rosewood Avenue
- Marine Drive / Burnham Road
- Adam Street
- Chapel Street
- College Street
- Cross Street
- High Street
- Manor Road
- Marine Drive
- Oxford Street
- Pier Street
- Regent Street
- South Street
- Victoria Street
- Vicarage Street
A Carnival Committee spokesperson said: “The first road to close will be the Tesco end of The Frank Foley Parkway. Most other roads will stay open until as close to 6:30pm as possible.”
“We aim to keep a balance between keeping the spectators safe and ensuring that everyone can get home safely without too much traffic disruption. Other roads in town will only be closed before 6.30pm if it is judged that there is a risk to public safety. All other roads will close by 6.30pm and will the-open as soon as possible at the end of the event.”
“We understand there have been some concerns about the roads closing earlier this year as we have better signage containing our ‘from 4pm’ time. We just want to reassure residents that we are not anticipating closing roads earlier than we have in previous years.”
“The Highbridge and Burnham-On-Sea Carnival committee would like to take this opportunity to thank the residents, businesses and Town Council for their patience and continued support of our town’s carnival.”
You can also track the carts online this year at http://track.hboscarnival.org
Also see:
Complete guide to the 2018 Burnham-On-Sea CarnivalÂ
