Fun of the festival (From Surrey Comet)

Fun of the festival

7:49pm Wednesday 3rd October 2007

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Marching bands, morris dancers and even a woman sitting in a wedding dress in Oxfam's shop window - it could only be Surbiton Festival back for another year.

Each year the event has crept further out into the streets and station forecourt of the town.

"Surbiton Festival is a real community event and it gets people together. We need more of it.”

Mrs Bolton

Even the Lamb Inn around the corner in Brighton Road got involved this year, turning its bar and beer garden into a pirates' den.

Oxfam showed it had Great Expectations with a Dickensian-themed window in the form of Rachel Sharp who wore a wedding dress all day as she sat in the shop's display window. Oxfam and the Lamb were joint winners of the best-dressed window prize.

Ron Smith and Dave Naylor of Surbiton Vintage Vehicles Club stood proudly by the line up of classic cars including a 1960s Borgwarde and a black MGTC.

Pointing at the MGTC Mr Naylor said: "That car was raced at Brooklands in 1933 and it is still running smoothly. We travel all over Europe in it every year. If the cars attract people and encourage them to spend money at the other stalls then we're happy."

Mr Smith said: "Most people come up to us saying their dad or their grandad had a car like that - it's nostalgic."

Standing at the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) stall was Carol Bolton. She was working at Barclays Bank in Surbiton 40 years ago when she first heard about RNLI.

She said: "My manager turned to me and said, I've got a job for you'. He wanted me to do the bookkeeping at the Surbiton branch of RNLI and I've been volunteering there ever since."

The RNLI has been a stalwart of Surbiton Festival since the beginning, organising the annual regatta which takes place riverside during the first weekend of the festival.

Mrs Bolton has seen the festival change and develop. She said: "I remember when the road wasn't closed off to traffic and the cars used to go up and down the road right behind our backs. There's definitely more commercial stalls now when it used to be just charities.

"But it's nice to see so many people I know out and about. Surbiton Festival is a real community event and it gets people together. We need more of it."

A promotions team from the Surrey Comet was also on hand at the festival.

Raphaela Holdgate, 25, of Esher, was the lucky winner to find a £10 golden ticket inside her Surrey Comet.

Someone else picked up Comet containing a golden ticket entitling them to a free night with dinner at the fabulous new Holiday Inn in Chessington. Sadly they did not claim the prize, so watch out for the Comet promotions team as it will be rolled over to a future event.

• To watch a video of the festival click here.

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