Somerset's illuminated carnivals exhibition van made its first stop on Wells Cathedral Green as it started its tour of the county.

The Carnivals In Somerset Promotion Project (CISPP) mobile exhibition van began its tour of the area in Wells on Wednesday, August 4.

The aim of the mobile exhibition unit, paid for with Heritage Lottery funding, is to promote and conserve the history of the area's unique illuminated carnivals.

The van has a variety of carnival images, video, text and memorabilia on show plus a range of archive material and a recording facility to collect oral histories. Martin Coppell, chairman of Wells Carnival, said: "I think it's absolutely fantastic. It's helping to keep alive one of the oldest traditions in Somerset. I'm very impressed. It's a start that people can add to. People brought in pictures from as far back as 1919 on Wednesday. The exhibition tells the history of carnival and will hopefully get a lot of younger people interested as it tours the schools."

CISPP is run by volunteers who want to preserve Somerset's 400 year-old tradition of illuminated carnivals, which has its origins in the burning of effigies of Guy Fawkes in Bridgwater and dates back to the 1605 Gunpowder Plot.

Somerset's illuminated carnivals are one of its best kept secrets. The county has the largest night-time illuminated carnival processions held anywhere in the world.

Carnival has evolved into a spectacular set of celebrations of economic, social and cultural importance, bringing people of all ages and backgrounds together. Somerset's carnivals are organised entirely by volunteers. An estimated 10,000 people are involved in carnival and there are more than 50 float clubs and around 100 other clubs who enter as walking groups or individuals. More than £93,000 was collected at the Somerset County carnivals in 2009.

The money goes towards local charities and organisations and the cost of staging the carnivals. Floats, known as carts (as they used to be the horse drawn variety), can cost around £20,000 to construct and carnival committees spend up to £30,000 annually to stage their carnivals.

There are currently around 30 illuminated carnivals in the South West, the most famous being the 'magnificent seven' of Somerset's November circuit – Wells, Glastonbury, Shepton Mallet, Bridgwater, Weston-Super-Mare, Burnham-on-Sea and Noth Petherton. Wells Carnival will take place on Friday, November 12.