THE crowds turned out to celebrate one of the most successful carnivals in the history of the Sodbury Festival.

The procession of floats and musicians through Chipping Sodbury High Street on Saturday was the culmination of 10 days of festivities in the town.

Although numbers have dipped in recent years, the French theme of the 2009 festival gave everyone a little ‘je ne sais quoi’.

Festival committee chairman Liz Gregson said: "It was a wonderful carnival, one of the best we have ever had.

"There was a superb atmosphere in the town for the whole day and there were certainly more crowds than we have had for a number of years."

Live music echoed through the streets as a band from Cesson, Chipping Sodbury’s twin town in France, and Chipping Sodbury School wind band gave performances in the afternoon.

There was a charity street stall in Broad Street plus games, competitions and attractions as well as tempting refreshments for sale.

A record number of floats were entered into the carnival, all taking the Anglo-Franco theme on board.

Judges faced a difficult decision but eventually declared Raysfield Junior School the winners for their Tour de France float. The lorry featured a folding Eiffel Tower and parents dressed in yellow cycled alongside the float.

Paul Tily and his family came second and Raysfield Infant School were third. Gift shop Khameleon claimed the top prize in the best dressed window competition.

Added Mrs Gregson: "Carnival day was absolutely fantastic and there are a lot of aspects we will try to repeat, especially the live music.

"All the other events throughout the festival were extremely good and of a very high quality.

"The committee will hold a debrief meeting on June 30 and then we will start planning next year’s 25th anniversary festival."