Can New Orleans or Rio match

ANYONE who ever grew up in the West Country knows that carnival season is in the autumn and its true home is in Somerset .

That said, we at the Western Daily Press are prepared to concede that cities like Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans might just know a small thing or two about putting on a show.

And with Mardi Gras being in full swing this week the international photographic agency wires were flooded with spectacular images from carnivals around the globe.

Which is why we asked Bridgwater Carnival to provide a tongue-incheek critique of a selection of the best photographs we found.

Hopefully this will whet the appetite of readers for when Europe’s biggest and best illuminated carnival rolls around this autumn.

Carnival stalwart Roger Evans’ links to the event go back to 1954, when as a seven-year-old he

It has been carnival season across much of the world this week, including famous events in Brazil and Mardi Gras in New Orleans. We asked Bridgwater Carnival experts how they compare to Somerset

appeared on an entry called “At the races” as a jockey.

As an 18-year-old he was a founder member and now life member of Renegades Carnival Club. He served for 13 years on the Bridgwater committee and for three years was chairman of Bridgwater Carnival. Since 1995 he has been a senior judge, so this year will be his 25th as a judge, so he’s certainly in a position to pass comment.

He says: “The floats at the Rio carnival are truly amazing. I estimate they are about 40 feet wide, whereas ours are maximum 11 feet. The problem is that the Rio ones would not make it around the medieval streets of the Somerset carnival towns.

“So they may be bigger but that doesn’t make them better. And if you look at the street scene rather than the floats, you will see that the circuit is lined with three tiers of stands.

“It is a purpose-built circuit which means they can control the access and hence charge for the privilege of viewing. A friend of mine is in Rio at the moment and has tickets for those stands – at £480 each!

“Our carnivals are free – we just ask for donations to charities.”

Moving onto the Mardi Gras spectacular in Louisiana, Roger says: “The New Orleans floats, I would say, are on a par with ours. But their pro-