Colourful floats were out for Ashington Festival

Fantastic fireworks and floats galore saw thousands turn out for this year's Ashington Festival.
By The Newsroom
Published 22nd Aug 2018, 18:06 BST
Updated 3rd Sep 2018, 12:16 BST

The annual event took place between 1.30pm and 11pm on Saturday and was hailed a great success by the organisers.

Margaret Alford, chairperson of the Ashington Festival committee, said: “It was a fantastic day that everyone seemed to enjoy.

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“The weather was kind. It wasn’t sunny but it was warm and overcast which was just right for the most people.

“We had a few thousand people turn up. The carpark we had was in a large field and that was overflowing.”

The festival started with a procession led by this year’s carnival princess Amelia Mercer and her two attendants Cindy Boult and Molly-May Mintrim and her two pageboys Sebastian Smart and Alfie Cope.

Among the entertainment was ‘Jez Avery’ with his daredevil motorcycle stunt act, ‘Lauren Rice’ with her well known Dog & Duck act, popular children’s entertainer Tom Foolery, the Harris Brothers Funfair, the Arun Vet Group fun dog show, a car boot sale and a flower show.

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Margaret added: “We had lots of stalls. The classic cars and the dog show were a great success and the fireworks were really fantastic.

“I’ve had a lot of people contact me whose first time it was at the festival and they said they thoroughly enjoyed it and that they’ll be back again next year.

“A big thank you to all the sponsors and everyone who helped on the day to make it such a successful day. Looking forward to seeing you again next year.”

A varity of colourful floats and walking groups entered the procession with winners awarded cups and rosettes.

The walking group winners were:

1st - The Chanctonbury Playgroup - ‘Aliens Love Underpants’

2nd - Ashington Youth Club and Gym - ‘The Red Barrows’

3rd - The McGarth family - ‘100 Years We Rememeber’

The float winners were:

1st - Arun Vets - ‘Mr McGregor’s Garden’

2nd - Ashington Minibus - ‘70 years of NHS’

3rd - Ashington Short Mat Bowls

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Overall winners were The Chanctonbury Playgroup, Ashington Youth Club and Gym, and The McGarth family who won £100, £75 and £50 respectively.

Sponsors included Saxon Weald, Cubitt & West, and Charles Muddle Ltd.

For more information about the festival visit www.ashingtonfestival.co.uk