West Country Carnival - Carts and Floats

Carts and Floats

Uniquely in the West Country, the vehicles are called carts, unlike other carnivals where the term carnival float is used. The term cart is still used today to describe the large and elaborate trailers used in the procession. Carts are built by local clubs of individuals funded totally by charitable donations and sponsorship from local businesses.

Carts are always themed, with no restriction on the theme from the organising committee. Regularly chosen themes include:

• Popular children's books - like Alice in Wonderland
• Favourite children's characters - such as Disney characters
• Scenes or themes from history - like Pre-Historic, Victorian or famous Battles
• Scenes or themes from around the world - such as Australia, Rio de Janeiro or Spanish
• Travel and transport - such as cars or trains, e.g., The Chattanooga Choo-Choo
• Popular themes of the day - including pop songs or dances
• The future or exploration - such as space

Carts include both music and costumed people to complete their theme. People and items on the cart can either be moving or static in tableau.

Today these carts are driven by farm tractors, and usually also tow a large diesel-driven electricity generator to provide the huge amount of power required to power the carts. Some generators used can provide over one megawatt of power, with 10,000 to 30,000 lamps not uncommon on a modern-day cart. The tractors themselves are often decorated to match the rest of the cart and generator, and in some cases modified so that the driver is positioned low down between the two front wheels. This allows for a higher degree of decoration without obscuring the driver's view. The length of the entire cart is often built to the maximum allowable of 100 feet (30 m).

These floats are interspersed with walking exhibits, either groups or singles, occasional marching bands or majorette troupes, and charity collectors who take donations from the spectators.