GOING by the support for Pewsey Carnival events so far, the turn-out for Saturday's procession is going to be better than ever.

This year new events have been introduced to add extra variety to one of the West's oldest and biggest carnivals.

Saturday's procession, which starts at 7.30pm, is the culmination of two weeks of events providing entertainment for all ages.

Thursday saw the first of the races that have become mini carnivals in their own right. There were 65 entries for the Wine Race with teams of three tied together at the ankle racing around village pubs for a glass of wine.

The fancy dress entries were spectacular - and so were some of the tumbles.

Many of the Wine Race teams will be back in action at 7.30pm tonight for the Wheelbeero Race for which it's hoped the entry will top the 200 mark for the first time.

Last year the event attracted 176 teams who raced with a wheelbarrow around a designated route, sharing a pint of beer at pub stops.

The Wheelbarrow Race, devised and organised by Tony Kimber, attracts teams from all over the world and one of them, the Crank Yankees from Seattle, has this year donated $500 to carnival funds.

The best fancy dress team will win the coveted Gazette and Herald trophy.

The wheelbarrows themselves are turned into an amazing variety of contraptions that range from the topical to the tropical and in past years have included the Titanic and Concorde.

Pewsey Carnival is not just for the grown-ups and there have been a variety of children's activities including a princess competition, fancy dress parade and on Sunday the children had their own three-legged race also run by Mr Kimber.

He said: "We had 56 teams taking part and it was brilliant, everyone enjoyed it."

Carnival ends on Sunday with a thanksgiving service and concert by the Cricklade Town Band in the Market Place.