PICTURE GALLERY/VIDEO St Helens Carnival Queens, back, Dixie Mitchell, middle, from left, Courtney Gaskin and Bonnie Mitchell, front, Ella Frampton. Picture by Peter Boam.
PICTURE GALLERY/VIDEO
HUNDREDS of people lined the main road and around the village green to watch this year’s St Helens Carnival on Bank Holiday Monday evening.
The village was a sea of colour and creativity and the carnival was a fitting finale to a successful afternoon of sporting events on the green.
The balmy, summer weather also brought out more entrants than in carnivals of the past few years.
Nettlestone girl Verity Richards, 12, caught the crowd’s eye with her China girl entry.
Verity, of Eddington Road, and a pupil at Portsmouth Girls’ School, had been taking part in the carnival for the past four years. She said: "I enter each year because I like seeing all the happy faces of the crowds. The carnival is in a nice setting and it is a bit of fun."
Eloise Preston, 13, of Castle Lane, Wroxall, was in the pink with her effort.
Dressed up as a pink carousel, the Christ the King College pupil took pink as her inspiration, with hair, make-up, clothes and the carousel standing out brightly in the procession.
There was plenty of music to enhance the carnival spirit — provided by the Vectis Corps of Drums, the Wight Diamonds Marching Band and the Unidos samba band.
A street collection raised hundreds of pounds towards the staging of next year’s carnival.
Chris Drewery, who organised the event, said: "It was a good night — one of the best we’ve had in a few years, thanks to the glorious weather. It was really nice to see so many people from the village and other areas coming out to support it.
"It was particularly nice to see a lot of family groups and people from the mainland taking part."
Reporter: jonm@iwcpmail.co.uk
• Pictures from our online gallery www.iwcpgallery.co.uk below.
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St Helens Carnival.
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