South Zeal Carnival came back with a bang on Saturday, ending three years when covid stopped carnival fun.

Once again the street through the village saw children and parents demonstrate their creativity with crepe paper, satin, sticky tape and sequins.

The afternoon parade was led by carnival princesses Hester and Bridget Parker-Bray, six and four, whose dresses were inspired by Walt Disney’s Frozen.

The judges had very hard decisions to make on who would take home the prizes.

The overall winner of the afternoon walking classes was, deservedly, taken by little Louie Woodman, dressed as a spider.

The costume was made by his mum Carolyn George, who burned the midnight oil to get her son’s costume ready for the big day.

She said: ‘Louie loves bugs and snails and his uncle and cousin have tarantulas and things like that so we thought it would be a good idea for a costume.

‘I started on the costume on Thursday night and put it on him on Friday morning.’ It wasn’t quite right, she said, so she started again!

Brothers Cameron, ten, and Oliver Moore, eight, also scooped prizes, both coming first in their age groups.

Cameron came first in the walking classes as the Help for Heroes Bear, which nan Diana helped him make while Oliver, eight, won his age group, with Sonic the Hedgehog, which his dad Ricky Moore created.

They are taking part in the local carnival circuit, having already taken part in Okehampton Carnival and being off to Hatherleigh Carnival on November 12.

Explaining the inspiration for his costume, Cameron said: ‘I wanted to be a bear, and because my dad is the army, I am a Help for Heroes bear.’

Mums and tots of the Mini Moors Carnival Club, based in South Zeal and Sticklepath, put on a colourful show with ‘Locally Grown’ exhibit in the walking procession, with the kids as vegetables and their parents in dungerees and wellies. It won them first prize in the ‘Original’ category.

Alice Pearn, one the the mums, said: ‘They are all cousins. Some of them weren’t even born when we had the last carnival before covid . I did South Zeal Carnival when I was this age, so they are carrying on the tradition. We liked the idea of doing something to do with local produce because we are all from farming families.’

Later, the village was transformed into a sea of lights, costumes and music for the evening procession though the village to Sticklepath and back, with the procession being led by Characters Inc.

Vicki Watkins runs the carnival with her mum Dawn Watkins.

Carnival day itself is the culmination of a year of fundraising, to raise the £2,000 for the carnival, to cover costs from insurance and road closures to prizes.

Money collectedd on the day goes to two charities, Muscular Dystrophy UK and In Focus, an Exeter-based charity which provdes equipment and specialist care for children and young adults with complex needs.

Vicki said: ‘I’ve done the carnival since I was two and I am 36 now. We haven’t had it since covid. The last time was in the 2019, we wanted to come back with a bang and we have certainly done that.’

Results: Artistic: Mario Kart; Trade: Proper Job Tours, Legends of the Moor; Original: 1st Locally Grown, 2nd Winkleigh Goes Western, 3rd Where’s Wally?; Visiting Royalty: Okehampton; Walking Individual: 1st Help for Heroes, 2nd Best of British, 3rd Sonic Hedgehog; Walking Pairs: Star Wars; Walking Groups: In the Garden.