ULVERSTON revellers enjoyed a surprisingly sunny weekend at the town's annual carnival.

Taking place on Saturday (July 2), more than 8,000 people came out to show their support at Ulverston Carnival.

Organised to raise money for St Mary's Hospice, the carnival took its inspiration from the vibrant Rio de Janeiro carnival and the theme was Brazil and the Olympics.

Bob Qazi, the St Mary's Hospice corporate fundraiser and carnival committee chairman was thrilled with how the event went.

"There was so much effort made by everyone who took part in the parade," he said. "It was amazing! To name a few, the LVA float had a young group from the South Lakes Rock School, Furness Building Society had Becki Fishwick singing on their float, the Wolverines joined in and Sir John Barrow and Pennington School walked along with some great displays.”

Unfortunately a poor weather forecast for Saturday meant that the planned dance competition had to be cancelled - fortunately for the thousands who managed to make it out, there was only one shower to contend with.

In order to help raise funds for St Mary's, Karen Butterfield, the owner of Ulverston's Geek Goods, invited her customers and nerd-culture enthusiasts to dress up as some of their favourite fictional characters.

"We had lots of fun," she said. "We had quite a good turn out, about 15.

"It was mostly anime costumes, but we also had Anna and Elsa from Frozen, Spiderman, and I dressed up as Mary Poppins.

"It was great. The weather forecast put some people off but there was a big turn out like there always is."

From a business perspective, Karen hopes that there will be a knock on effect from the carnival, bringing more people into Ulverston.

And although the total money raised is as yet unknown, last year the hospice raised more than £3,000, and a spokesperson for St Mary's said that the community had been 'wonderfully generous and supportive' as ever.

"There was a great family atmosphere and there was a real sense of community from everyone, Bob said. "The day wouldn’t have happened without the support from our wonderful community, and our many volunteers who got involved. A big thank you to the Carnival Committee for all their hard work, including Wendy Barry, Phil Kitson, Jeff Johns and Martin Osbourne."