|
BBC London presenter Emily Maitlis proved a great hit with the crowds when she opened the annual Green Days fete at the 39th Bedford Park Festival. She also judged the children’s fancy dress competition and spent time on the Green, meeting stallholders.
“Emily was terrific and lots of people told me how much they enjoyed her speech” said Father Kevin Morris of St Michael & All Angels Church, which organises the Bedford Park Festival. “She was very natural with all the children and got Green Days off to a wonderful start.”
Thousands of people enjoyed the sunshine over the two days, watching the bands and the five-a-side football, drinking beer and Pimms, eating strawberries and ice cream, and browsing in the Craft marquee. The funfair and the stalls did a roaring trade on both days and there was hardly any litter, as the crowds responded enthusiastically to an appeal to “Keep Green Days Green”.
Emily Maitlis posed for photographs with children who’d taken part in the annual Fancy Dress Parade, which this year was on the theme of Roald Dahl. The winners received books and tokens from Waterstones in Chiswick High Road, and all entrants received a Fouberts ice cream voucher and a certificate.
The winners were:-
Ages 2 to 3
1st: Eloise and Benjamin Hussey (aged 2) as James and the Giant Peach.
2nd: Thomas Buchanan (3) as Giant Peach.
3rd: Alex Miller (2) as Mike TV (from Charlie & the Chocolate Factory).
Ages 4 to 6
1st: Hannah Ryan (6) as Esio Trot.
2nd: Phoebe Rigden (6) as The Grasshopper (from James & the Giant Peach).
3rd: Oliver Simkin (6) as The Ladderless Windowcleaner (from The Giraffe, the Pelly & Me).
Age 7 plus
1st : Gus Halford (10) as The Giraffe.
2nd : Stella Wharmby (7) as The Enormous Crocodile.
3rd : James and Katie Stanbridge (7) as The Twits.
Prizes were also presented for the Turnham Green Terrace Treasure Hunt, sponsored by Waterstones and the estate agent, Fletchers, and supported by 21 of the Terrace traders. Children had to spot Roald Dahl books in the shop windows and say which was their favourite and why. 54 children entered.
The winner of the first prize - tickets to the new Roald Dahl Museum in Great Missenden, in Buckinghamshire - was Isobel Warren (6) of Belmont Primary School. Her favourite book was Esio Trot and her winning entry was written backwards. She liked the book because “eht sdrow era sdrawkcab dna s’ti ynnuf!”.
The runners-up, who receive Walt Disney goody bags, were:
Ella Forster (9) from St Michael Steiner school; Stella Wharmby (7) from Orchard House school; Emma Tritton (10) from Orchard House school; Claudia Fordham-Moss (9) from Chiswick & Bedford Park school; Leila Ashrafy (9) from Wendell Park primary school; Toby Murley (10) from Blossom House school, Wimbledon; George Whear (9) from Larmenier & Sacred Heart Catholic school; Thomas Whear (7) from Larmenier & Sacred Heart Catholic school; Harriet Baldwin (10) from Notting Hill & Ealing junior school; Ellie Baldwin (6) from Orchard House school.
Another highlight was the children’s 5-a-side Football Competition, sponsored by the estate agents Bushells. In the under-13s contest on the Saturday, the winners of the Bushells Cup were ACFC, who beat the Black and Blue Bruisers in the final, 5-2. The winners of the younger competition on the Sunday were John Betts Juniors.
On the Sunday, more than two dozen children took part in the Pop Idol contest in front of hundreds of people – the biggest crowd of the Green Days weekend. The acts were introduced by film and West End star Ian Pirie, currently performing in The Postman Always Rings Twice at the Playhouse Theatre, who also sang three numbers while the judges were choosing the winners.
This year's judges were Natalie Bareham, head of dance and creative arts at the Arts Educational School in Chiswick; Emer McParland, head of vocals at the Guitar and Vocal Institute in Acton; and Louise Wilkinson, manager of SweatyBetty in Turnham Green Terrace, the event's sponsor, which gave prizes to all the entrants, and CD vouchers to the winners (pictured in front of audience).
They chose winners in three categories:
Dance: Lewis Walker, aged 9, who performed an urban dance routine with his older sister Leah.
Solo: Jasmine Wharmby, aged 13, who sang "I'm going to wash that man right out of my hair" complete with blonde bubblecut wig.
Group: Milly Forrest and Sarah Abdoo, aged 10, who sang and danced to Kung Fu Fighting.
Other performers who won big applause were Stella Wharmby, 7, who sang Truly Scrumptious, and a young Abba band. |
