THE words Pewsey and Carnival are synonymous and in the words of the old song “you can’t have one without the other”.

Pewsey lives, breathes and sleeps carnival and would be much more at home in Somerset where carnival reigns in many communities.

The secret of the success of Pewsey carnival, where others in Wiltshire are faltering or even dying altogether, is continuous evolvement.

There are small changes every year with new events joining the September fortnight of fun and frolics.

Some of the new events became part of the regular carnival calendar like the Wheelbeero Race and the Wine Race, both of them more than 25 years old.

No one who has seen one of the wheelbeero races will ever forget it.

They are so popular they even had entries from Europe and the USA, Imagine close on 200 wheelbarrows and small trucks each heavily decorated and pushed and pulled by fancy dress teams…that’s Pewsey’s wheelbeero race.

Some entries join with stripped down wheelbarrows and running kit with the intention of winning the race around the village with compulsory stops at all the pubs.

Others take part just to say they have been part of this annual spectacle that has almost become a carnival in its own right.

Huge crowds line the streets for the wheelbeero and the wine race in which teams of three have their legs tied at the ankle.

There are events for all ages with fancy dress parades and parties for the children and even a treasure trail around the village for those who get about in mobility buggies.

It has been said that people in Pewsey exist for 50 weeks of the year and come alive for the other two….carnival fortnight.