Little Maddison Day may be only three but she flew the flag with style at her home-town carnival parade.

She was among the youngest competitors at Glastonbury Chilkwell carnival on Saturday, revelling in her first parade, and her chance to shine on the Key Kids of Meare stars and stripes-themed entry, USA.

Gremlins Carnival Club of Bridgwater with its breath-taking float, Nemesis (Invasion Earth) had swept the board so far in the Guy Fawkes carnival series, but relinquished top spot in the open feature class to fellow Bridgwater club Marketeers' Ghost Riders Let's Ride.

Masqueraders Carnival Club of Meare triumphed in the local feature with Jester Choo Choo, with Wick CC second with Mardi Gras (Jesters).

Some clubs which normally produce floats are on foot this year, but still giving a great show. They include Mendip Vale, from Wells, which is concentrating on fundraising for a base to build its float.

Organisers reckoned the parade was the best the town had seen, and that was the verdict of the huge crowd, celebrating a mild, dry carnival night by cramming every inch of pavement and standing on walls to make sure they did not miss a second of the pulsating show.

Those standing opposite the abbey ruins were rewarded with another, almost ghostly, presence, as the ancient abbey kitchen was suddenly brought out of the dark and spot-lit by each massive illuminated float.

Carnival princess Ella Bremner, eight, and her attendants, Emma Berry, nine, and Chloe Brine, seven, added sparkle. Entrants in the princess contest, and mums and dads, raised £3,729 to swell funds.

Other youngsters ensuring the carnival tradition continued down the generations included masquerader Jamie Buckland, 11, from Frome. He has been competing since he was two.

For sheer elegance the cast of the Mozart-themed float Amadeus was hard to beat. It captured perfectly a vanished world, where women's hair decorations, were a carnival parade in their own right.

Wells carnival raised £11,000 in its street collection on Friday. Chairman Martin Coppell said: "Even though that is £2,000 down on last year I am very happy with that in these difficult times."

The final parade in the Somerset Guy Fawkes series is at Weston-super-Mare tonight (November 17).