VILLAGERS made the most of a rare sunny bank holiday weekend by turning out in droves for an annual festival.

The Comet: Children in fancy dress costumes riding on a floatChildren in fancy dress costumes riding on a float (Image: Archant)

The 49th Kimpton May Festival was held from Friday to Monday, with a fancy dress procession, 10k fun run, wine tasting, and music evening among the highlights.

The Comet: The recreation ground during the Kimpton May festivalThe recreation ground during the Kimpton May festival (Image: Archant)

Organisers set a ‘toy box’ theme, with Toy Story, Super Mario and Lego characters among those seen at Saturday’s procession.

Roadworks on the High Street which threatened to get in the way of the event were completed on time, although a stray bus did get caught up in the floats.

Publicity manager Graham Archer said: “It was fantastic weather and a fantastic weekend. We think we’ve raised a lot more than last year because of the weather.

“All of our main events sold out – with the wine tasting on Friday night, we had 102 people in the room.”

Although a final figure is some weeks away, organisers estimate to have raised around £30,000 for charity.

The money will be split between the village church restoration fund, Kimpton Village Memorial Hall, and local hospices and community projects.