The Winter Gardens in Ventnor overflowed with silk, chiffon and curls on Friday (8th May) as the Queens from Carnivals Islandwide competed for the coveted title of “Queen of Queens”.
This year it was Ventnor’s turn to host the event and the compere for the evening was Susan Goulding from Ventnor’s Carnival Association.
Such was the standard of entries that the judges had to forego most of their buffet as they struggled to whittle down the competitors to find the winners.
In order to be impartial contestants were identified only by number and on the night it was Sandown’s entrants who made a clean sweep winning both the junior and senior titles.
Junior title winner was Emily Abbott and senior Queen of Queens was Amy Wright. The Sandown carnival was presented with two new trophies named in honour of Carnival stalwart Brenda Lawson, who passed away on the morning of Ventnor’s main Carnival in August 2008.
The winning girls were presented with a cup for them to keep and a “Queen of Queen” sash. Sandown will face a strong opposition next year when it will be their turn to host the event and fend off challengers for the title. Judges on the night were Ventnor Town Mayoress, Susan Scoccia, Ventnor Councillor Robbie Mew with his wife Joan, and County Councillor George Cameron.
