Melissa Fear, 17, was crowned Burnham-On-Sea’s new Carnival Queen during a special pageant ceremony in the town last night (Friday, April 21st).
The annual Carnival Queen and Princess Pageant evening took place at The Princess Theatre, where Melissa was chosen by a panel of judges to lead this year’s carnival parade.
The judges also selected this year’s two Carnival Princesses – 7 year-old Sofia Mathews and 6 year-old Maisie Phillips.
Melissa told Burnham-On-Sea.com she is delighted to have been picked for the role. “It’s such an honour to have been chosen to lead the carnival – I didn’t expect to win! I love the carnival – it’s such a great event and I was keen to take part.”
Tony Rees, who compered the event with Lilly Keepin, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “We had a superb quality line-up of entrants this year – 13 girls in total. They were all marvellous and the judges had a tough job choosing the winners.”
During the evening, each of the nominees was asked a question and encouraged to show their individual personalities. The judges, Tina Hooke, Phil New, Malcolm Borland and Lynne Lester, pictured below, assessed them and picked the winners.
Carnival Chairman Phil New thanked last year’s Queen, Hannah Sainsbury, for all her work throughout the past 12 months. In her outgoing speech, Hannah thanked the community of Burnham and Highbridge for making it such a “memorable, special year”.
The new queen’s selection is the first event in the run-up to the 2017 Highbridge and Burnham Carnival, which will be held on Monday November 6th.
RELATED LINK:
Guide to 2017 Burnham-On-Sea Carnival
