THOUSANDS of people are expected to line the streets of Wellington on Saturday (September 26) for the town’s annual carnival procession.

The procession starts in Rockwell Green and travels over Hilly Head and through Mantle Street and the town centre to finish at the Priory junction.

Members of Windy Wheelers Motor Cycles will lead the parade, setting off at about 7.25 pm at the head of this year’s total of 56 entries.

The Wellington event starts the autumn series of the South Somerset Carnival Circuit, with the other processions being Ilminster on October 3, Chard, on October 10, and Taunton on October 17.

Road closures and traffic restrictions will start to be enforced in the afternoon until the procession is over in order to protect spectators, participants, marshals, and event staff.

A one-way traffic system will operate between Perry Elm Roundabout and Bagley Road from 2 pm to 6 pm as the carnival floats and other entries start to gather, with the road fully closed after that time, and there will not be any access to Wellington from that end of the town.

Town centre roads will be closed between 6.30 pm and 11 pm from Bagley Road through to the roundabout at the Longforth Farm estate entrance, the one which features the monument planter.

The carnival committee is requesting any vehicles to be removed from the procession route by 5 pm, and is also asking everybody to give £1 each when collectors pass.

A spokesperson said: “Every pound helps toward the enormous cost of staging the carnival and supports the event’s future, local charities, and good causes.”

They also asked spectators not to buy light-up toys and novelties from unofficial peddlers as money spent with them did not support the future of the carnival, only official traders and collectors did so.