THOUSANDS of summer revellers are expected to descend on Thornbury next weekend for the town’s annual carnival.

The event, one of the biggest in the town’s calendar, takes place on Saturday, July 1, and starts at 10.30am with hundreds marching in the popular parade.

The carnival itself on the Mundy Playing Fields, which starts at midday, will feature multiple stages of music and entertainment as well as more than 100 stalls with food, drink, games and information from local organisations on offer.

Starting at the Castle School, the parade, which features a variety of groups and organisations from the town and surrounding area, as well as lots of military vehicles and classic cars, will march down the High Street towards the playing fields.

More than 11,000 visitors made their way through the gates to the carnival last year, a record-breaking number, with organisers hoping for a similar turnout this time around.

This year’s chosen charity is Thornbury-based Jigsaw, who have recently moved into a new home in the bakery annex of the Armstrong Hall complex.

As well as bucket collecting during the parade, the charity will also have a stall in the carnival, where they will be joined by former Miss Great Britain and I’m a Celebrity contestant Amy Willerton, who will be helping promote the cause.

Headlining this year’s festival are The Bohemians, a popular Queen tribute act who have performed for audiences worldwide, who will be entertaining crowds with a 90-minute set.

Among the many other performers on the day are Bath-based samba band Jammadesamba, bagpipes band Rock Pipes and retro girl-band The Femmes, who have returned to the carnival for the third year in a row.

Carnival founder David Goldring told the Gazette he was very much looking forward to this year’s carnival.

“Following on from last year’s event, the biggest and best yet, we are looking forward to another big day, with a variety of stalls and some excellent entertainment.”

He said that he was proud that the once-a-year spectacle “brings something different to the town” and hoped for as many people to attend as in previous years, but it would be down to the weather.

“You can arrange church fetes and village fetes but people want to see something that makes the town different,” he said.

“Thornbury has such an incredible selection of annual events; the Arts Festival, the Eisteddfod, Thornbury in Bloom and the carnival itself. Not many other towns can boast such an impressive calendar.”

Carnival committee chairman Paul Caddick said: “We are really looking forward to it. It’s a culmination of 12 months of really hard work, and we want it to be a success.

“It’s not just arranged in a couple of weeks, you have to start early and even now we are already looking towards 2018’s event.”

He added that he was particularly looking forward to the parade.

“It is such a spectacle,” he said. “Reminding people the carnival is on and giving a real pied piper effect to draw them to the festivities on the playing fields.

“It gives the younger people in the community a chance to take part and be involved with the day.”

Mr Goldring added: “A big thankyou goes out to all those whose contributions might not be visible on carnival day, but are invaluable to our progress.

“We would not be where we are without them and would like to offer our gratitude to their time and effort.”

Tickets cost £6 for adults and £4 for primary school children, with a family ticket covering two adults and two children costing £15.

Earlybird tickets, which save £1 per ticket, are on sale for the carnival at the Town Hall, Surroundings in Thornbury and Maison and Coco.