Flower parade:

TENS of thousands of revellers lined the streets of Spalding this Bank Holiday Weekend to witness the market town’s annual Flower Parade spectacle.

Organisers believe at least 40,000 people attended the event on Saturday, now in its 54th year.

A procession of 13 floats, decorated in some 1.3 million tulip heads, made its way from Springfields Shopping Centre, to the centre of the town, before returning to the out-of-town centre where they remained on display until yesterday.

It was the second year Kenyon Communications has overseen the event and chief among their concerns was the record-breaking rainfall which has proceeded it. However, Mother Nature seemingly took pity on them and provided clear skies on the day.

Caroline Kenyon, director of Kenyon Communications, said: “It was better than our wildest dreams. We were absolutely thrilled with how it went.”

Organisers had been forced to cancel a finale at the town’s Sir Halley Stewart Playing Field due to the water-logged state of the ground, but there had never been a question of pulling the parade itself.

Mrs Kenyon said: “We are the country of the Blitz and Churchill and we are not deterred by a bit of rain. We would have carried on regardless, but it would not have been the same.”

Mrs Kenyon put the event’s appeal down to its “quirky charm”.

She said: “When people see the floats, they are enormous, they are intricate, every single inch of them is covered in tulip heads, they are spectacular, they are joyful, they are ridiculous.”

She added: “They give people so much pleasure.”

This year’s parade concludes the contract the firm had with Lincolnshire County Council to run the event, but it hopes to return.

Mrs Kenyon said: “We would be delighted to run it again.”

She added: “We feel we have got something to offer and the parade is something special and precious.”

TRACTOR TURBO: A float full of turkeys made of flowers is pulled through the streets of Spalding