BRIDGWATER Carnival organisers have received support funding from Arts Council England for the third consecutive year.

A grant for £29,851 has been awarded for the 2014 Bridgwater Carnival celebrations by the government funded body, which distributes government and National Lottery money to the development of arts in England.

Rita Jones, president of Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival, said: “This is absolutely fantastic news for everybody associated with our carnival, and I would like to thank Arts Council England for their much needed support and for recognising the role our carnival related activities play in the development of arts in Somerset.

“This money will enable us to continue and increase the work we are doing with local schools in spreading the carnival word, and also to provide a full programme of top class entertainment on carnival day itself.”

This year five separate educational carnival projects have been arranged for local schoolchildren to get involved in.

They include workshops to build lanterns from recycled materials which children will then carry in two lantern parades over carnival weekend, a visual arts project where children can decorate glassed Chinese dragons and a literacy competition where budding poets and writers can showcase their talents.

There will also be a competition to design and build a model carnival cart and a choreographed dance parade through the town centre on carnival day itself.