Exeter Carnival to return after 24-year break

A generation will experience Exeter Carnival for the first time as it returns to the city after a 24-year break.

Organisers promise “colour, joy and vibrancy” at the event on Saturday.

They said the “historic day” would feature the Jubilation Cart – a float used in the Queen’s Platinum Pageant in London.

The float is rigged out with four crowns, 12 Beefeaters and more than 4,000 lights.

Harlequin Carnival Club, who attended the first Exeter Carnival in 1977, will also take part, while the Big Noise Chorus choir will sing on a Stagecoach bus.

Organisers are encouraging people to spread out along the route for the procession, which will begin at 18:00 GMT.

Starting at the bottom of South Street, it will head up the road, turn right onto High Street, into Sidwell Street and then up to the roundabout near the Odeon cinema.

Returning back into Sidwell Street, it will finish at the junction with High Street and Paris Street.

Ann Hunter from InExeter, which is organising the event, said: “The return of Exeter Carnival following 24 years is a historic day for the city and is one we should all celebrate.”