May Day Celebration and Carnival Queen Crowning

The 2009 Carnival Queen and Princess are crowned next to the Meadow May Pole while the Mayor and Mayoress officiate.

Whitchurch’s 2009 Carnival Queen, Annabel Sankey, 12, and Princess Rhianna England, 11, were crowned last Saturday on the Meadow.  A large crowd applauded their grand entrance – they made their way from the Fish Gates to a special stand near the May Day pole where last year’s Carnival Queen and Princess were on hand to do the honours.

Brian Shrubsall provided the May Day dancing music with his squeezebox.

Whitchurch Mayor Peter and Mayoress Pauline Williams welcomed everyone to the event and oversaw the official ceremony to crown the new Queen and Princess.  And there was great rejoicing!

The newly crowned Queen kicks off the dancing around the May Pole!

Then it was time for some dancing around the May Pole.  The Queen led the way with very fine footwork.

Later, the newly crowned princess in her lovely pink dress was spotted over at the mobile high-tech science lab hunting for creepy crawlies to look at under the microscope.

The boys help to untangle the pole's ribbons.

A fun day for everyone.  Be sure to check out the Whitchurch Festival website and the forums.

Here’s a video of the fun:

Whitchurch Meadow Science; and Festival Queen Crowning (2 May 2009) from Andrew Reeves-Hall on Vimeo.