Britain’s oldest carnival dating back hundreds of years was mired in controversy after a row broke out between rival clubs.
Gremlins Carnival Club won the overall prize at this year’s Bridgwater Carnival with their Beatlemania cart.
One person reportedly suffered an injury during an altercation after the results were announced on Sunday (3 Nov) evening.
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Rival club The Newmarket Carnival Club later apologised for the actions of one of its members and then withdrew from the carnival.
They added that it had created a bad image for the club, as reported by What’s The Jam.
A spokesman for Newmarket Carnival Club which came first in the Best Comic Feature Cart class for its ‘Tour de Somerset’ added: “The carnival club would like to deeply apologise following the altercations that occured after the results reading on Sunday evening.
“The actions of one individual have unfortunately created a bad image for the club.
“We do not condone these actions as that is not what Newmarket CC has built it’s reputation on.
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“This has been dealt with internally by the club.
“We understand someone has been injured and we would like to take this opportunity to forward on our best regards and a speedy recovery.”
The spokesman added that due to the circumstances and upset within the club it had withdrawn from a subsequent procession.
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A spokesman for Gremlins Carnival Club said: “We are extremely saddened with the events of Sunday evening.
“The matter is being dealt with internally and we have no further comment to make.
“We are now looking forward to seeing everybody at Fridays Carnival in Weston Super Mare.”
The results for the carnival were delayed owing to a fault with technology and software.
A video revealed the anger of club members and the crowd as a Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival committee member is heckled as he reads out the results.
A spokesman for Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival later apologised for the chaos saying: “The committee would like to apologise for the issues surrounding the results of our 2024 procession.
“We experienced some technical issues with the laptops we were using last night, which sadly we were unable to resolve.
“We understand many entrants are upset and disappointed and so are we with the uncertainty it has caused.
“You can be assured we will be carrying out a thorough review into what happened with the results over the coming weeks, although as we are sure you will appreciate, this will not happen until after the 2024 carnival season is over.
“We are all volunteers in the carnival, and we would appreciate your patience at this time.
“We are doing everything we can to remedy the situation.”
The carnival is said to be the oldest in Europe tracing its origins back to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 when Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators failed in their attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament.
The West Country carnival circuits are an annual celebration that happens around bonfire night.
Carnival clubs across the region spend all year making carts for the parades, which cost thousands of pounds to construct.
