Crowds flocked to Annan at the weekend to welcome back the town’s major summer celebration.
The Riding of the Marches returned in style after the Covid-enforced break.
It turned out to be a brilliant day packed with fun and music after the age-old traditions were re-enacted once again, prompting
organisers to hail it all “a great success”.
Chairman Stuart J Thompson said: “I think the support that we got from the public demonstrated that everybody was extremely pleased to see the event back after the pandemic. It was satisfying to see the crowds on the street.
“There is a team of volunteers behind this event who helped to organise it. We started planning in September and it was a long process so to see this coming together feels rewarding.”
Dozens of horsemen and women rode out to inspect the burgh boundaries marking the age-old way of ensuring the landmarks, cairns and other features have not been removed or tampered with.
They were led by Cornet Oran Keenan, his Lass Katie Anderson and Standard Bearer Katy Nelson.
Into the afternoon and the carnival parade saw 14-year-old Queen of the Border, Caelan Ferguson, and her royal retinue warmly greeted by the crowd of spectators.
Traditionally the pipe band competition is a major event on the circuit and, although numbers were down on the past, the standards were once again high.
On the day the Cornet’s Chase was won by Frank Johnstone and Hilda Dobie was first home in the Cornet’s Lass Chase. Junior Chase winner was Tara Kaine, Juvenile Chase winner Kate Edgar and the Open Chase winner was Emily Little.
The Rotary Club Shield went to Annan Youth Cycle Club which also took second place in the most original category at the parade.
The most topical float was made by Enable, focused on Queen’s Jubilee Party, the most artistic was Gallus Rocketman and the most humorous was won by Hasbeen & Co.
The best window dressing award went to Little Angels Boutique while Annan Harbour Action Group won the best dressed small vehicle.
The Children’s Shield was won by Alice in Wonderland, created by Fiona Jones and Islay Thorburn, while the Brian O’Neill Trophy went to 101 Dalmations.
The best children’s costume was worn by Lowlin Fox dressed as a Nemo and Alexa Copeland, who was dressed like Barbie.
Mr Thompson added: “We have had a variety of winners this year and it was great to see how creative our local community is. We are looking forward to start working on next year’s event and we hope it will be even better and bigger.”
He put the drop in pipe band numbers down to the fact many bands have not played for two years and some have not started up again.
He said: “It is something that we need to closely examine and evaluate. We will be having a meeting in the next couple of weeks and we will go through all the events, analyse them and decide what we could do better next year.
“I think everything worked like clockwork, there were no incidents on a day and everything was on time.
“I think everyone did well this year and the Queen’s Award (for celebrating a cultural tradition that cements community spirit) just confirms it. It is the highest award given to volunteer groups across the UK and it is a tremendous accolade for our organisation. We are extremely happy about it.
