It's official – Carnival is coming, and on the basis of the bookings received, it includes 24 major carts and will be over a mile long. This means that it will take about an hour to go by and as such, will be three times longer than the Carnival held at Westfield last year.

For those who are still sceptical about the Carnival's return on a new route to include Midsomer Norton High Street, the parking signs went up last week right around the two-mile route – so it's now official.

It was always thought that the main obstacle to the return of the Carnival on the proposed new route was the infamous traffic island outside the Town Hall. However, more problematic were last-minute concerns over the Traffic Management Plan for the new route from B&NES and Somerset officers, which has required a huge amount of planning and detailed negotiations late into the night at Midsomer Norton Town Hall over the last two weeks.

The new route, which will include Midsomer Norton, Radstock and Westfield, requires the closure of just about every main road in the local network. Add to this a cart line-up which will see entries arrive from Saturday, 8th November until they move off on Monday night of the 10th November, and you can see the challenge. Other towns on the Carnival Circuit have had years of managing such major events – but B&NES has been facing a steep learning curve.

So, a section of the road to Stratton (A367) will be closed from Saturday, 8th November from the White Post roundabout, with traffic diverted onto the Chilcompton Road (B3139) with a diversion back onto the Stratton Road opposite the end of Silver Street on the (B3355) to create the line-up point.

On the night of Carnival, Midsomer Norton High Street will be closed for its entire length, from 5 p.m. Then, the Fosseway from the White Post to Charlton Road will be closed for a short period to allow carts to move down and line-up along Charlton Road – then the Fosseway will reopen.

Following this, Silver Street from the Station to the Town Hall will be closed, allowing the Carnival procession to make its way down Silver Street, officially starting at 7.30 p.m. at the end of St Chad's Avenue. It will then travel the wrong way up the High Street, turn right into Radstock Road, go along Somervale Road, through Radstock, up Wells Hill and into Westfield.

As the Carnival moves around the route, Silver Street will reopen first, followed by Radstock Road and then slowly, the rest of the route – so that at no time will the entire A road network be totally closed.

"We've done our very best to try and bring Carnival to as many people as possible on a route which includes Midsomer Norton, Radstock and Westfield, whilst, at the same time, trying to ensure ,as far as possible, that the traffic keeps flowing. We've had fantastic support from B&NES Council officers on developing a very detailed Traffic Management Plan," said Steve Collins, Chair of the Midsomer Norton and District Carnival Association.

"In support of this, we are asking as many local residents as possible to walk down to Carnival rather than coming by car. A thousand letters are also going out to houses and businesses on the two-mile route to make them aware of the rolling road closure and asking them to bear with us as we run Carnival on this one night of the year."

Midsomer Norton Town Council and Westfield Parish Councils have largely underwritten this relaunch of Carnival – with B&NES, in their turn, making a one-off grant of £12,000 towards the enormous costs involved with the new Traffic Management Plan at the eleventh hour.

With all the technicalities at last settled, the focus can now return to delivering a glittering event for the whole community to enjoy onCarnival Night, Monday, 10th November 2014.

The Carnival Association is looking to hear from as many local community groups and charities who would like to have collectors for good causes on the night.