FARM animals, Ross and Demelza Poldark and even Christmas lights lit up the streets of Bude on Saturday as Bude Carnival took to the spotlight.

Organisers were delighted with the turnout of both spectators and participants, seeing 21 entrants for the children’s daytime fancy dress competition, 45 float entries for the evening procession and four visiting royalty groups.

This year’s Citizen of the Year was Mike Luxton and carnival president, Margaret Frost, transformed into Demelza Poldark for her own float entry with Pete Vickery — which even went on to win best in carnival.

Carnival secretary, Louise Chambers, said: “We would like to say a massive thank you to everybody who supported Bude Carnival and our committed hard-working committee. The floats all looked fantastic with such an amazing effort having been made, and all of our performers throughout the day were absolutely brilliant.

“The daytime fete saw a record number of visitors to the castle grounds and even the slight drizzle did not put a dampner on the day — and the evening saw the streets of Bude busting at the seams with locals and visitors alike.

“We have so many thank yous to make that I don’t really know where to start. But a big thank you to our royalty, new and old, our ambassadors, new and old, our Citizen of the Year Mike Luxton, our judges, marshalls, stewards, volunteers, helpers, entertainers, collectors, donators, participants and, of course, every single one of you that showed up and supported us.”

She added: “Thank you everyone, and let’s do this again next year. See you on Saturday, August 17, 2019!”