Organisers of the Wells carnival have celebrated another fantastic year.
The event saw more than 10,000 people hit the streets of the seaside town, to witness parades and shows organised a year in advance.
Chairman of the Wells Carnival committee, Patrick Weston, believes that Wells-next-to-Sea sets an example to all towns.
He said: “Wells is a blueprint for how a town should be. It’s a wonderful place to live and a wonderful place to work.”
Mr Weston has lived in the town his whole life, and added: “What’s really special is how welcoming the community is. We get a lot of second-home owners here and they’re welcomed by the community like anyone else, so that they feel included and can help support events like this.”
The carnival is run entirely by volunteers, with Mr Weston heading up a committee of 30 people.
“It’s quite a task,” he said.
“But all of our family and friends help to organise the carnival. The people that live here are lovely so it’s very safe, but of course their needs to be organisation in place so it stays that way.”
The 35-year-old took on the role of chairman 15 years ago, he said: “I wasn’t daunted going into the role at a young age, I’d done things for the carnival before as it’s been running for 110 years, and I just wanted to make sure the carnival kept getting better.”
He continued: “Every year we want to make it bigger and better than the last, and every year we succeed.
“We’ll be having a meeting soon to begin plans for next year.”
Despite the drizzle throughout the weekend on August 5 and 6, fans of the carnival still came out in their droves.
Mr Weston added: “We always say blue skies bring smiles but everyone was smiling even though that wasn’t the case.
“What’s so special about this event as well is that most of the events are free, or are sponsored by local businesses, which is fantastic.
“It’s a great place to grow up, and we’re already looking forward to next year.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here