Retinue announced for the Bo'ness Fair 2022

Exact details for the town’s annual Fair Day are still to be confirmed, but organisers are hoping that this summer’s event – scheduled for Friday, June 24 – will see a return to a full, traditional fair.

Youngsters from Bo'ness Public Primary School will take on the day’s key roles for 2022 and earlier this month pupils at the school chose their queen elect.

Aimee Gilchrist will be crowned queen on Fair Day after being selected by her peers, and it is hoped this year the crowning may be able to take place once again, as is tradition, in the town’s Glebe Park for the first time since 2019.

As a result of the pandemic, for the last two years the event – the biggest in the Bo’ness community’s diary – has been scaled down and held behind closed doors.

The crowning of Queen Lily Harvey in 2020 and Queen Ellie Van Der Hoek in 2021 also took place later in the summer than usual – in August each year – due to Scottish Government restrictions which were in place at the time.

Crowds were unable to gather to watch the ceremony and instead it was streamed online for people to watch at home.

With Fair Day still some months away, the organising committee are busy working behind the scenes and they hope that this year’s event will be able to go ahead unhindered by pandemic restrictions for a third year returning to the traditional event that the town's residents know and love.

Scott McBride, chairman of the Fair Committee, said: “We’re definitely hoping for a full Fair on June 24.”

News of the date for the 2022 Fair and the names of the young people who will be in the retinue comes as it emerged this week that on June 19, 2020 - the day the Fair should have taken place that year - Prime Minister Boris Johnson attended a gathering in 10 Downing Street to wish him a happy birthday, while the country was in lockdown.

The full 2022 Bo’ness Children’s Fair Festival retinue from Bo’ness Public Primary School: Queen Elect – Aimee Gilchrist; Chief Lady in Waiting – Alice Markey; Queen of the Flower Girls – Zoe Stewart; Queen of the Fairies – Ava Love; Ladies in Waiting – Stephanie Heath, Darcy Burnside, Amaya Campbell, Ellie McCluckie, Mikayla Graham, Eva Murray, Beth Drury, Hannah O’Donnell; Maids of Honour – Olivia King, Eve Spacey, Nieve Lennon, Grace Hardie, Orla Gilfillan, Lacey Bonnar, Scarlett Shabbir, Lauren Watkins; Queen’s Champion – Zac Irvine; Lords in Waiting – Euan Jackson, Cody Sneddon; Queen’s Heralds – Nathan Harkins, Eddie Rose; Crown Bearer – Oliver Murdoch; Sceptre Bearer – Rhys Mayes; Sword Bearer – Oscar Jamieson; Yeoman of the Guard – Daniel Pacitti, Alasdair Honeyford; Page Boys – Archie Bell, Lewis Jackson; Guards of Honour – Cameron Warwick, Max Cunningham, Tristan Dolan, Spencer Heeps, Noah McDiarmid, Cameron McCluskey.

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