Great fun was had by all who attended the wide range of events and activities of Kesh Community Carnival.

Running over five days, from August 17 to 22, the Carnival kicked off with the announcement that Tia Hamilton was this year's Maid of Lough Erne.

During the week there was a variety of events including a car treasure hunt, a teddy bear's picnic and live music performances, to name a few. Friday night saw large crowds draw for the tractor pull on Kesh main street and on Sunday, the tractor run proved very popular, with a great number of tractors joining the convoy.

Speaking to The Impartial Reporter, Garry Jennings, one of the main organisers of this year's Kesh Community Carnival, commented on the festival's success: "It was a great success. We had to stick to guidelines because of Covid, we worked alongside environmental health and the police to make sure we could do that to the best of our ability.

"We thank the police and Fermanagh and Omagh District Council for all of their support, they did help us along," he added, going on to comment on the community spirit shown by the police: "The police put a team in for the tractor pull as well, so it's great to see the police getting involved."

Saturday daytime saw a Fun Day for all ages take place at the football and cricket clubhouse in Kesh. Activities on the day included a bouncy castle, bubble football and inflatable darts, along with a BBQ which was enjoyed by all ages despite the wet weather.

"Ederney GFC organised the Fun Day. They gave us a big helping hand," said Garry, adding: "They ran a surf school for us and two multi sports camps, where they played soccer and gaelic, rugby and did all different games. Then on Saturday they put on the Fun Day for us so I have to say a big thank you to Ederney for doing that.

"It's great to see both communities coming together, if we can do anything for them in the next couple of years we definitely will do that."

A highlight of this year's festival was the sheep racing event on Saturday night. The main street of Kesh was closed as crowds of people lined the streets to cheer on the woolly competitors.

"I would say the highlight of the events was probably the live sheep racing. There was a good crowd at the sheep racing, there was a good crowd all week," said Garry.

All funds raised from the festival will be donated to Down syndrome charities in Fermanagh and Donegal, with over £10,000 raised from Garry's charity haircut, as reported in last week's newspaper.

"People were very generous. It's very hard to explain the generosity of people," Garry told this newspaper.