An event which has become part of local tradition celebrated its fortieth year on Easter Monday this week, 22nd April. Basking in glorious sunshine, the crowds came out in force for the Mells Daffodil Festival.

Marking the anniversary, organisers decided to channel all things 1979 with a seventies fancy dress competition and a disco theme, which was judged by angling expert, author and television presenter, Jeremy Wade. The tradition of crowning a Mells Daffodil King and Queen was brought back; those given the honour were Wyn Durlacher and Imogen Bagan.

ITV weatherman and Dancing on Ice star, Alex Beresford, also came along to officially open the Festival.

With temperatures rising, organisers breathed a sigh of relief after weeks of rain in 2018 saw the event’s parking field unusable.

Food, drink and craft stalls lined the village’s streets, with activities taking part in and around Mells, including an Easter Bonnet competition, won by three-year-old Zinnia Sullivan, the chance for teddies to take to the skies in the annual church roof parachuting event, Morris dancing, a noisy Town Criers’ competition, and ‘Mells has Talent’, which showcased young musicians. Teams were also invited to come along and compete in the Tug of War, which was raising money for Lisa’s Army cancer support.

As well as circus skills, ferret racing, Punch and Judy and a children’s tent featuring crafts and toys, there were also classic cars and engines on display, with bands Rocktopus, Raggedy Men, Gorilla Tactics and The Shout playing in the Cheese and Grain tent.

Also marking the fortieth anniversary of ‘Daffodil Day’ was an exhibition at St Andrew’s Church of photographs and newspaper cuttings, documenting the history of this well-known local event.

Daisy Steel, Chair of Mells Daffodil Festival committee, told The Journal: “We had a record-breaking year for our 40th Mells Daffodil Festival. We took more money on the ticket gates than any year previously.

“We were also extremely lucky that it was one of the hottest Easter weekends on record – at last, a beautiful day for our village festival, which brought out the crowds and meant we weren’t having to pull cars out of muddy fields with tractors, for a change!

“It was wonderful to have not just one, but two, TV stars for Daffodil Day this year. ITV weatherman, Alex Beresford opened the event for us, fresh from appearing on Ninja Warriors on Saturday night. We also had River Monsters star, Jeremy Wade on hand to crown our Daffodil King and Queen. He presented the prizes at the dog show too – although he’s more used to dealing with giant fish than our four-legged friends!

“All the money raised from the event will go back into supporting community groups in the village like the nursery, the school, the shop and the church. We are also hoping to use some of the funds to help improve the children’s play equipment in the village recreation ground.

“Mells Daffodil Festival is managed entirely by volunteers who give up their time for free to put it on. It’s great to see the whole village pulling together for something like this – and wonderful that the people who visited on Easter Monday all seemed to have a fantastic time – we have had some very nice feedback from both traders and visitors, too.”

Photos: Will Nicol (who remembers covering the first Daffodil Festival!)