“HUGELY enjoyable and successful” was how this year’s Hartley Wintney Festival has been described.

Around 6,000 people turned out in force, some as far as Portsmouth and Brighton, to enjoy the ‘Royal Celebrations’ themed day, in what has been dubbed “the best festival in the south of England”.

The day was opened with an precession, led by the Old Basing Corps of Drums, and also included four entries from local schools and four from local clubs and associations.

Greenfields County Junior School were awarded first prize for their efforts by the judges in the first category and Hartley Wintney Women’s Institute won first prize in the second.

The festival is in its 17th year after the Rotary Club of Hart, with support from Friends of Hartley Wintney and the Hook and Odiham Lions, resurrected the then defunct festival in 1999.

Since then it has steadily increased its popularity especially among the local community as is shown by the ever growing numbers each year.

Some of the events during the day included a tug of war competition, which were “hard fought and very sweaty affairs” as the muggy weather took hold.

The ladies from The Oakwood Community School won in the Ladies’ Section, while The Cricketer’s took it home in the men’s section.

The central arena saw a continuous entertainment programme, including The Orwell School of Dance and the YEM Rock Choir, interspersed with all sorts of fun children’s races.

There was also a precession of classic cars on the day for festival-goers to cast their eye over.

For the younger audience howver, the Spider Mountain Climb Tower and the Sumo wrestling proved to be the most popular attractions with queues forming throughout the day for those who wanted to climb and bounce off each other in oversized sumo suits.

There were also a number of burger bars and cream tea and cake stalls, as well as a much appreciated ice cream van, all of which provided refreshments throughout the day.

In particular, the ladies of The Inner Wheel worked tirelessly all day cooking over 2,500 rolls filled with bacon, sausage and burgers which resulted in the hoisting of a ‘sold out’ sign about 20 minutes before the end of the festival.

Proceeds from the day will also find their way to local hospice, Naomi House and Jacksplace.

Steve Watling, the president of the Rotary Club of Hart, was able to present an interim cheque of £2,000 to the hospice, with a further sum made available when the overall results for the day are known.