Let's move to Bridgwater, Somerset  You get a sense that its
heyday was around 1702 Let's move to Bridgwater, Somerset Let's
move to Bridgwater, Somerset: Who knew about the splendidly
eccentric tradition of Somerset November carnivals? Photograph:
Joel Redman for the Guardian  What's going for it? Come Bonfire
Night, it's always Lewes that's the media tart, hogging the
limelight with its conflagrations and humorous Guys. But what
about Bridgwater? Bridgwater? Exactly. Little did ye know that
Bridgwater on Guy Fawkes Night claims to have the largest
illuminated carnival in Europe (4 November this year). Who knew
about the splendidly eccentric tradition of Somerset November
carnivals? Scores of clubs in different towns and villages
compete for the best themed "cart" (they're not called floats
round here), each lit up like a Wurlitzer with multicoloured
lightbulbs (lightbulbs being a post-Victorian safety initiative
to stop the town burning down), and each watched by hundreds of
thousands of locals. Bridgwater'