IF you live in one of the towns and villages that is lucky enough to have its own carnival, you’ll know that carnival season is a special time. It’s when a large part of the community gets together mainly for one thing – to have some fun.

I find myself getting into carnival mood already as Devizes is now bedecked in bunting. That may not sound much in itself but it’s enough to let you know that it’s a time for celebration. The carnival fortnight starts this Sunday at from noon in Hillworth Park. Picnic in the Park is a free event with music that you’d normally have to pay to see.

I can be a bit Devizescentric in this column but hundreds of places have their own celebratory traditions such as chasing cheeses down hills, setting Viking longships alight or carting giants through the streets.

The village of Combe Martin in Devon has the ‘Hunting of the Earl of Rone’. The reason for hunting the unfortunate aristocrat has been lost in the mists of time but it was already a well established tradition when it was stopped in 1837 due to ‘licentiousness and drunken behaviour’. The hunt was revived in the seventies and is now the centrepiece of the Spring Bank Holiday weekend. Over four days, Grenadier Guards, a hobby horse, a fool and villagers hunt him before finding him on the Monday night. He is then mounted back-to-front on a donkey and paraded through the village to the sea. With a feline capacity for reincarnation, the Earl is frequently shot by the grenadiers and falls from the donkey only to be revived by the hobby horse and fool. The final macabre shooting on the beach is enough as he doesn’t get up again but is thrown into the sea, where children pelt him with stones. It’s a silly ritual. But, nonetheless a great one; and one that gives the village a sense of tradition, continuity and togetherness.

The daddy of the Wiltshire carnivals, Pewsey, has its wheelbarrow event. It’s not a race, no. Certainly not a race. Because that would be to encourage irresponsible drinking and adults can’t be trusted to run their own lives and make their own decisions. Yes, I know alcohol abuse has blighted many lives but why does everyone have to suffer when it affects relatively few. But I digress.

In Devizes, we still have a confetti battle; this year it’s on Wednesday 2nd September at 8pm, since you ask. When I’ve mentioned this event to friends and colleague who don’t know the town, they ask what it’s all about and I tell them the truth; children (and some adults) run around throwing confetti at each other. This information is normally greeted with bemusement, incredulity or even scorn. But it really is great fun. And it’s ours. And most of us are proud of it. So there!

These carnivals aren’t the same as those in Rio de Janeiro, Venice or New Orleans. They do celebrate the local area, culture and customs but they’re unmistakeably and quintessentially English. You realise how ingrained they are into our psyche when you hear people saying things like “Devizes Carnival on Saturday – the schools must be back next week” or “Pewsey Carnival’s coming up – that’s the end of the Summer.”

When all is said and done, none of these events could take place without the efforts of volunteers; people who give up their time so that all of our lives can be made a little brighter. There’s been self explanatory trend on social media recently called #ThankAVolunteer. But you don’t need to take to Twitter or Facebook to do this; a simple thumbs up and a ‘cheers, mate’ will go a long way towards showing them how much we appreciate their efforts. I’ll be doing that at Devizes Carnival. And I know I won’t be alone.