Coronation Bank Holiday weekend: Hundreds attend Co Down carnival event in celebration of King Charles III

Over 600 people attended the free event at Banbridge Road Presbyterian Church, where they were treated to live music from three 'beefeaters' complete with busby hats performing from a flat backed lorry.

The church had circulated invites around the schools several weeks ago, and the crowds were ready and waiting when the event opened at 1pm.

A combination of live music, barbecue, ice cream van, bouncy castle and dozens of children's activities made for a relaxed atmosphere which brought out the smiles and rounded off what for most people could be once-in-a-lifetime event - witnessing the coronation of a British monarch, on this occasion King Charles III.

However it was not totally novel for a tiny proportion of the population.

Ruth Cochraine, 90, from Dromore told the News Letter it brought back memories from when she watched the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

She enjoyed Saturday's spectacle "very much", she said.

"I watched it all on TV... It was very good, very informative. I saw the last coronation, you know - of Queen Elizabeth.

"But I missed half of it, I was busy and I didn't just sit rooted to it the way I did this time. I learnt a lot more this time."

It was hard to make a comparison between the two coronations, she said.

"But there were things I missed the last time - the anointing and that sort of thing."

She appreciates that there are not too many people who have seen both coronations of Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III.

Then on the Bank Holiday Monday she visited her church, Banbridge Road Presbyterian Church in Dromore, Co Down, to take in the carnival event.

"The children are really enjoying it," she said, acknowledging that she was taking great pleasure in watching them also.

The highlight of the day for her was having Bank Holiday tea at the event, followed by watching the children playing on bouncy castle stairs.

"I never saw them before" she said, laughing and confirming that no such thing had existed when she was growing up.

Gareth and Janet McMaster from Dromore had been planning their visit to the carnival for weeks.

The highlight of their weekend was spending family time watching the king and all the festivities, they said.

"We had a tea party at mum's on Saturday to watch the coronation with mum, dad, uncles, and all the cousins," Janet said.

They then travelled to Belfast on Sunday to take in coronation events there.

For Gareth the highlight was watching the Coronation itself. "But the kids have been looking forward to this [carnival] for the past two weeks," he added.

The organisers came into their school and gave them all flyers inviting them to the free event.

A showcase event on the bank holiday were tours of the King's own back garden in Northern Ireland, at Hillsborough Castle.

The Castle’s Head Gardener hosted Coronation Tree Tours throughout the day, giving visitors the opportunity to hear more about the historic trees planted over the years to mark the late Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation and her jubilee milestones over the past 70 years.

For those with a Castle and Gardens ticket, visitors could also see inside the Castle and marvel at the State Rooms, still used for royal occasions and political discussions today.

A selection of events organised by Orange lodges also took place, including an indoor coronation tattoo run by County Fermanagh Grand Orange Lodge at 7pm at Castle Irvine, in Irvinestown.

The lodge also organised a day of free entertainment for all the family at Castle Irvine from 4pm-8pm.

Fermanagh and Omagh District Council ran The Big Community Paddle, Picnic and Volunteer Village from 11-5pm at Enniskillen Castle Museums.

And Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council teamed up with six different community organisations to host special volunteering events for ‘The Big Help Out’.