MALVERN’S annual May Day celebration was a great success, bringing music and colour into the town on Saurday.

Families flocked to Priory Park and everyone from tots to teens enjoyed the Mediaeval Mayday Mayhem event, listening to music from the bandstand and enjoying picnics in the sunshine.

Jai Hill, the Bard of Malvern, in mediaeval attire, addressed revellers in the park with a speech in rhyme before the highlight of the afternoon, a parade.

The parade took the event out of the park, up to the Abbey Gateway and into the town centre, taking the music and dancing onto the streets. It was led by the Malvern samba band Baixa Beat and revellers, many in costume, followed the band, enjoying the rhythm of the drums.

The event had plenty on offer to keep people entertained and there was a cheerful carnival atmosphere in the park throughout the day.

There was music from local bands, including Cyanide, Babajack and singer Carol Lee Sampson.

There was a circus skills workshop with jugglers and stilt walker Steve Kaos, willow basket making and, in keeping with the mediaeval theme, archery.

The De Warren Re-enactment group staged displays of firearms and close combat and stalls sold colourful clothes, pottery, wood carvings and Fair Trade goodies.

For the children there were bouncy castles, face painting and craft workshops where they could make crowns, wimples and banners for the parade.

There were stalls raising awareness and funds for local groups and charities including Malvern Fair Trade, Acorns Hospice and Greenpeace.