A HEROIC effort has been put in by youngsters across the district to promote this year's Ilkley Carnival.

The carnival will take place on Monday, May 2 - the first May Bank Holiday - and is again expected to bring crowds in to watch the traditional parade through the town centre and the funfair, sideshows and entertainment at East Holmes Field.

Each year, a theme is chosen for the carnival parade, and local schoolchildren compete to design a picture on the theme which will be used on the carnival programmes and other publicity material.

This year, the chosen theme is 'Heroes and Villians', and the subject has inspired hundreds of youngsters to come up with colourful ideas in the painting competition.

Around 500 entries - twice as many as last year - have been received by the judges, who have the tough job of picking the winning entry. The overall winner, along with age group winners, is expected to be announced shortly.

Carnival committee chairman Dave Robinson said the judges had great difficulty in choosing the winners of the various groups. He said a lot of time had been put into the paintings, despite the demands on the National Curriculum, and lots of the paintings had been done in the children's own time.

"The judges were warmed by the response, not only from the children, but also from the schools and others, who encouraged the children to participate," he said.

The judges thanked everyone for their competition entries, and said they had some difficulty judging the competition because of the wide age range within the categories, particularly between five and seven-year-olds.

Some excellent pictures had to be rejected, the judges explained, because they had too much detail to be reproduced easily, or because they included text or collage. The Heroes and Villians theme inspired a wide variety of interpretations, ranging from traditional to modern heroes or villains, and even cartoon superheroes.

Winners from each age group will be presented with a £15 voucher at an awards ceremony, which will take place at the school of the overall winner. The school will get to keep the winning shield for a year.

The full line-up of events on the carnival field has yet to be announced, although the Bradford Bulls are again expected to visit, and a team of young motorcyclists are expected to be performing stunts in the arena. A falconry display will also take flight on the day, and boys and girls will play in finals of the local schools' annual five-a-side football tournament.

Each year, the carnival gives money it collects on the day to a variety of local beneficiaries. The carnival committee is keen to hear from any local causes which would like to be considered as a beneficiary of this year's event.

Potential beneficiaries can contact Ilkley Carnival Committee on (01943) 430779.