Meet new royalty for Hayfield May Queen

And this Saturday, March 10, there will be a chance to walk down memory lane and recount the past 91 years of the May Queen tradition.

Committee chair Maureen Spiers said: “As the country’s longest continuous may queen parade and festival, Hayfield has a lot of memorabilia to show and the committee have all been busy selecting the photos, artefacts and memorabilia to put on display.”

The nostalgic look back will take place at Hayfield Village Hall from 10.30am.

Lisa Bevins, who is looking after the archives, said: “We have even got pictures of the very first May queen from 1927 and an original royalty dress from 1960.

“This year’s new dresses will also be on display and the current may queen Amy Earlam, along with her retinue, will be in attendance.”

The highlight of the day will be the annual sashing ceremony at 1.30pm of the new may queen and royalty elect for 2018/19.

The four lucky Hayfield girls for the forthcoming year are: May Queen Elect Lillia Wild, Junior May Queen Elect Jazmine Ashton, Princess Elect Annabel Bagshaw and Rosebud Elect Harriet Bagshaw.

Maureen said: “We are looking forward to a great week of entertainment, festivities and events, and with all the hard work put in by the committee we hope the parade and festival on Saturday, May 12 will be a huge success.”

This year’s theme for the carnival parade is ‘Big Top Circus’.

On Saturday, the café in the village hall will be serving refreshments and homemade cakes from 10.30am until 2.30pm, during which a fundraising raffle and tombola will be held and everyone is welcome to attend.