HEXHAM Carnival offered up the perfect cocktail of great music and blue skies on Sunday as hundreds gathered round the bandstand for a wonderful afternoon in the park.

Show secretary Glynis Carter said: “It went fantastically well and we had the best turnout from the general public we’ve ever had.

“The kids were chasing a clown around with a pretend dog on a lead and parents had the picnic blankets spread out. It was a real family occasion – just what the park is designed for.”

Hexham Carnival is a carnival in name only nowadays – there are no longer any floats or a parade. Rather, it has telescoped down to the very popular Music in the Park event at its heart. (Isn’t it about time the name was changed then?)

So it was that at 11am prompt, the Abbey Grounds rocked into life with the first of four bands who would keep the crowd entertained until early evening.

Less was more this year in that there were fewer bands with longer slots.

Glynis said: “Billy Charlton has taken over organising the music now from his brother Angus. He had free rein to do what he thought.

“We had 18 or 19 bands who were interested in coming along, so we said ‘mix it up and give us something different’ and that’s what he did.

“Even (carnival favourites) the Proper Boys said they’d like to give somebody else a chance for a couple of years.”

The Hamstrings opened the event and Barely Human closed it and in between, during the three hours I was there, were home-grown talent Rocky (led by accomplished former Final Collection front man Sean Fenwick) and Sarah Kelly’s Heroes.

Between them they belted out the music of Free, Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Pretenders, Tina Turner and Janis Joplin, among others, as Prosecco corks popped and beer pulls pinged.

The words ‘what a voice!’ also echoed round the crowd as Sarah Kelly’s powerful, bluesy vocals took off. Wow, look out for her !

There were also dance displays by Hexham-based Splitz, a myriad of stalls and a number of fairground rides to boot.

The reconstituted committee that took over running the carnival three years ago (Glynis, Billy and chairman Joanna Jackson) had also stuck by what was one of their first decisions – to keep everything within the Abbey Grounds, rather than continue to stretch the event across the Sele next door.

“It wasn’t working there, mainly because it was too windy and too spread out,” said Glynis.

“The dancers perform around the bandstand now and that’s a nice backdrop.

“Families can also set up in one place for the afternoon – they don’t have to keep moving around. It’s perfect.”