THIS weekend, thousands of people will flock to Old Town and the Lawns to enjoy the full splendour of the Old Town Festival.

Previous years have seen up to 15,000 people enjoy the fun in the streets, on the Lawn and in the Town Gardens.

Among the biggest attractions will be the festival procession, which will take to Old Town's streets at about 11.30am on Saturday.

This year, it will be led by Wootton Bassett's deputy town crier, Owen Collier, who is stepping into Swindon town crier Fred Ferris' shoes for the day as Mr Ferris will be at a national town criers' championship.

Mr Collier said: "I am looking forward to taking the place of Fred Ferris this Saturday.

"I have never led a procession of this size before but I am looking forward to the challenge and hope I can perform as well as he has done over the years."

Joining him will be the spectacular Adamant New Orleans-style jazz band, which has made a number of appearances at previous festivals.

Following that will be Swindon's very own Queen Victoria, Mary Ratcliffe, riding in a 1925 vintage Bentley.

She said: "I have been dressing up as Queen Victoria for almost 35 years, but I cannot stay in character or else no-one will come near me.

"I love the interaction with the children.

"They come up to me and ask whether I sit on a throne all day or if they can hold my hand."

Joining her in the car will be Zoe and Joshua Illing, aged 11 and eight, of Croft Road. The brother and sister will join Mary as she makes her way through Old Town's streets just as their dad Graham did when he was 14 years old back in 1975.

Zo, who attends Lethbridge Primary School, said: "I am really looking forward to riding in the car.

"We have seen it already and it looks really nice but I am not looking forward to doing a silly wave!"

Joshua said: "The car is really nice and it looks like a lot of fun to ride in."

The car will be flanked by members of the Caledonian Society, suitably dressed in kilts.

More than 300 will participate in the procession, including air cadets, Moloney School of Dancing, members of the Cats Protection League and their cats, an Italian Job mini and Roman gladiators and cowboys.

The procession will pass through Wood Street, Victoria Road, Devizes Road, Newport Street and High Street before heading on to the Lawn for the festival events from 1.30pm to 5pm.

Anthony Osborne