The Boness Children’s Fair is the largest in Britain and has been going on since Queen Victoria was alive and each year one of the town primary schools chooses a Fair Queen and various participants from throughout the school.  Today when the Fair Queen was about to be crowned in front of hundreds of people it started to rain heavily and never stopped during the whole time.   The dozens of girls in their beautiful dresses and boys in their smart outfits were given ponchos although the new Queen and her retinue were fortunate to have cover.  It was such a shame as it was quite cool too. The dancing displays must have been hard in the rain at the end before they paraded with floats around the town led by bands with more celebrations in a local park.  Perhaps they ended up having to curtail these due to the rain.  People travel around on the evening before to see the “arches” decorating the houses of many of the children who take part.  This is the one at the Queen’s house but it is not as elaborate as some we have seen before.  The extra shows the children putting on a display in the rain and the outgoing Queen, the leader of the Flower Girls and her girls and little fairies.