Shrek, Buzz Lightyear and several Greek gods survived the deluge that arrived at the start of the Calne carnival and summer festival on Saturday.

Hundreds of people lined the streets, despite the dreadful weather conditions, to cheer the parade through town.

And, along with live theatre and entertainment from the likes of Singchronize choir, John Bentley School and local drama groups, the town still managed a carnival atmosphere.

Clare Harris, the town council’s events co-ordinator, said: “The weather wasn’t great. The rain came at just about the worst possible time, “We had a massive downpour just as the carnival was about to start so there was quite a bit of runny face paint around and there were plenty of soggy children in town.

“But everybody stuck to it and we marched through town as usual.”

The winners of the best entry were Priestley Primary School, who adopted a Shrek theme. All of the children dressed up as characters from the film and they made a dragon to carry.

Humpty Dumpty nursery was beaten into second place, with their TV and book characters theme. In third place was Cherhill School, who dressed as Greek gods and goddesses, to mark the forthcoming Olympic Games.

As well as the parade, there was a flag-raising ceremony in the town gardens, led by the Royal British Legion, to celebrate Armed Forces Day, a tradition started at last year’s carnival.

Mrs Harris said: “The flag-raising was a lovely moment and we had a good crowd out for that.

“We didn’t have such big numbers out as we usually do but there were plenty of people around all day.

“The people of Calne really showed their support again, as they always do, despite the bad weather. The town council and everyone involved would like to say a big thank you to everyone who helped make the day what it was.”