THE NEW might look somehow familiar on August Bank Holiday Monday, when "Forty Years of Carnival" will be celebrated by Ledbury people.

The floats in the grand procession will be re-appraisals of the finest floats of yesteryear, with some designers sure to go back four decades or so for inspiration.

The countdown to Ledbury’s 40th carnival, on August 25, will start in earnest on Saturday August 2, when Ledbury's mayor, Cllr Bob Barnes will be by the Market House, in the High Street, to hand out programmes and sell the first tickets for the prize draw, at 10am.

Carnival committee spokesperson, Hilary Jones said: "Then we will have a table there every Saturday in August, from 10am to noon, leading up to Carnival Day .

"Tickets are priced at £1 and you could be in with a chance to win £150 as the first prize. There will be around 20 other prizes that have been kindly donated by local shops and businesses, and there is still time to donate more."

Mrs Jones is organising the town's shop window competition, in support of the Carnival, and she said: I would like to give a reminder to shop keepers that there is still plenty of time to enter the competition which gets judged on Friday August 22."

She said of Carnival Day itself: "It will be such a great day for the town, with plenty of entertainment including an Abba tribute band, local rock band Nice and Sleazy, marching bands, a procession led by the Carnival Princess and her attendants, decorated floats, walking groups to name but a few of the attractions.

There will also be charity stalls, a fun fair, horticultural show, a dog show, magicians, - certainly plenty for all the family."