Advice for car drivers

• All town centre car parks will be open as usual, but most are inside the Carnival route. This means that drivers will not be able to enter or exit those car parks from 5.00pm (when town centre roads are closed) until it is safe to re-open the roads after the Carnival procession has ended (approx. 10.00pm).
• Additional car parking outside the road closure area will be available on Beach Lawns BS23 1AT. The only entrance to this car park will be from Beach Road.  It is only available on Carnival Day and will open at 2.00pm and will cost £10.00 per car.  When it’s full – it’s full.
• Visitors can also take advantage of on-street parking where possible and enjoy a leisurely stroll into town.
• N.B. Marine Parade will be closed to all traffic throughout Carnival Day except for coaches and minibuses. No cars allowed. 

Disabled parking and viewing:

• Designated disabled parking spaces will be available on Carnival Day within the Beach Lawns car park. These spaces will cost £10.00 per car.  Officials at the car park entrance will direct you to where they are (which is as close as possible to the Carnival Route).
• There will be two disabled viewing areas. One is close to Beach Lawns car park; the other is along Waterloo Street near to the Italian Gardens.
• Both viewing areas will open from 5.00pm and have stewards to assist. There are only a limited number of spaces, but access is free.

The Carnival Route

• The change of route last year was well received so it will remain the same for 2026.
  • Starts and finishes at the Locking Road Car Park. It then goes through the bus hub turning left at the cinema and then right onto Oxford Street to the seafront. At the seafront it turns left and then around the small lawn before turning right along the main A370 past the Pier and Winter Gardens turning right at Wetherspoons along South Parade into Waterloo Street, The Boulevard and then right into Alfred Street returning to Locking Rd car park.
  • Between Locking Road car park and the pedestrian crossing in the Bus Hub is a sterile area, so not a viewing area for security reasons.
  • The main procession starts at 19:00

N.B. The area between Locking Road car park and the pedestrian crossing in the bus hub is a ‘sterile’ area for parade security reasons, meaning it is not a viewing area.