DETAILS of Watchet's 2007 carnival weekend extravaganza - to be staged at its new location just off Brendon Road for the first time - will be unveiled at an open day in the town tomorrow (Saturday). And organisers, who have been forced to switch from the traditional East Quay venue due to the pending redevelopment of the site, are urging local people to throw their support behind the event. Although details of the entertainment that will be on offer are still under wraps, the Free Press can reveal that the finale will be a 'last night of the Proms' style concert featuring the 40-piece Cornish Symphonia and a soloist, couple with the renowned end of event firework display. The future of the three-day festival - hailed as one of West Somerset's major attractions - was secured last year when farmer Richard Burnell and the Wyndham Estate offered a 12-acre field at Parsonage Farm as an alternative venue. Although the footfall of the event will take up only half the site, the infrastructure costs of staging it have almost tripled, rising from £20,000 to an estimated £55,000. To cover the increase, organisers have had to abandon any hope of retaining it as a totally free event and introduce charges for the first time. But although they are looking simply to make a small profit or just break even this year, they have high hopes of achieving ambitious fundraising targets in the future. Any money raised this year will go to the chosen charity the Children's Hospice South West and also hopefully fund a Guy Fawkes firework display for the town in November. But the ultimate aim is to raise enough cash to pay for an additional police community support officer and help fund a CCTV system in the town. Entry will still be free for all under 17s and for everyone else an 'early bird' inclusive price of £15 for all three days of entertainment will be available until July 1. After that date, the price will rise to £20, with tickets for entrance to Saturday and Sunday's entertainment £10 each and £5 for Friday evening. Although the bulk of the entertainment - the line- up of artists and bands is expected to be released next week - will be staged at the Parsonage Farm site, the popular Sunday afternoon carnival parade will follow its traditional route through the town, followed by the fete, which will keep its Memorial Ground location. The children's festival will also be staged, as in other years, on the Memorial Ground, although entertainment for youngsters aged 13 and upwards will be provided on the Parsonage Farm site in conjunction with the organisers of the Minehead Eye project - an initiative to provide a youth centre and skatepark. Tomorrow's open day will be held in Pebbles Bistro in Market Street when carnival committee members will be on hand between noon and 3pm. The proposed layout of the new site will be on display, along with other information and plans. "The event is changing - it had to change," said carnival committee chairman Mark Bale. "The infrastructure costs have risen astronomically and we need 3,500 people buying the full three- day ticket or a minimum of 1,000 people a night just to break even. "But if people don't support it this year, it won't go ahead again. We have an eight-strong management team who will basically be picking up the shortfall, so we just hope local people will rally round." Fellow committee member Jackie Bale added: "We didn't ask to move from the East Quay - we had no choice. "We have to stage all of it - the whole weekend - or none of it. The infrastructure and other costs are just too much to do a one-day event and sponsors are getting increasingly hard to find." The site will have parking for 600 cars and will also feature a special viewing platform for the disabled. Organisers will have to hire in three marquees to house an information and first aid point, the licensed bar and a 'local bands' tent, along with three 'silent running' generators, eight lighting rigs, 24-hour security guards, several thousand pounds worth of 'portaloos' and a mile of fencing. The committee is on the verge of submitting an application to West Somerset Council for a 10-year licence to stage the event for a maximum of just under 10,000 people, which Mr Bale admitted had involved months of preparation. Brendon Road residents whose homes are within 100-metres of the festival site have been visited and have received invitations to a private viewing of the plans. The committee is also in the process of becoming a Community Interest Company (CIS) - a new initiative introduced by the Government in 2005 which is designed for social enterprises wanting to use their profits and assets for the public good. If successful, the move could open the door to grant aid to buy equipment which can be viewed as assets, such as marquees and trailer storage units. "If we can get grants to buy things like this, rather than have to hire them in year after year, then it undoubtedly is going to help us reduce our overall costs," said Mr Bale. "If this year's festival goes better than expected then it will put us in a much healthier position to stage the 2008 event. "We want to plough everything we make back into Watchet and the wider West Somerset area." Anyone wanting to join the army of volunteers needed to help stage the 2007 festival can contact the Bales on 01984 639616, write to PO Box 36, Watchet, Somerset, T23 OXZ or email [email protected]">[email protected]. Tickets will be on sale from May 1 at outlets due to be announced shortly.