Organisers are promising an extra-special day for Eynsham's 60th carnival.

Fifty-seven past Carnival Queens have been tracked down and invited to join this year's queen, Bartholomew School pupil Faith Hughes and her deputies on a parade through the village to mark the event's diamond anniversary.

One of them, the 1951 queen Pam Evans, is travelling all the way from her home in the US to take part. About 35 past queens will take their places in the procession on Saturday, July 1, which will see schoolchildren, charity groups and community groups weaving their way through the village on floats, from 1pm.

Carnival chairman Julie Jordan has spent months trying to trace all the previous queens. An appeal in the Oxford Mail and on ITV's Central News helped her track the final few.

A trip to the county's Central Library, in Oxford, where she found cuttings on the carnival in our sister paper, the Witney Gazette, also helped. Mrs Jordan, who has lived in Eynsham all her life and is in her second year as chairman, is putting together a wall-hanging with pictures of past queens and the years they were crowned to go on display at St Leonard's Church, in Eynsham Square, which is running a flower festival to coincide with the big day.

She said: "It's taken a lot of work. The only years over the past 60 years that we've not been able to find queens for are 1953 and 1954.

"I've been frantically making sashes and decorations, and the phone's been ringing off the hook. I love carnival, and this year's going to be great."

The day's festivities will start with teams in fancy dress for the annual shirt and pram race, starting at The Star pub from 12.45pm.

The race is followed by the procession, which will be led by Mrs Jordan along with Central News presenter Wesley Smith, who will officially open the carnival in Eynsham Playing Field at 2.15pm.

A wide range of activities, from motorcycle displays, Morris dancing, and majorettes, to a funfair, games, stalls and beer tent, will run until 6pm.

Admission is £5 for adults (£4 if bought in advance); £2 for children and pensioners. Tickets are available before the event from Eynsham Post Office, Evenlode DIY, Eynsham Emporium and Premier Print.