Mardi Gras carnival atmosphere comes to Deepings for annual raft race

Forty teams entered the colourful event with huge crowds in Market Deeping and Deeping St James finding a spot to cheer on the competitors as they raced down the River Welland.

Many of those taking part embraced the theme of Mardi Gras - the Christian celebration - with the prize for the best dressed raft shared between two teams: Spalding Round Table and Rio Trio.

The organisers said: “Wow, what a fantastic day. We had 40 rafts entered and 34 completed the course.

“Huge crowds attended and everything ran smoothly. There were lots of great Mardi Gras outfits.

“A massive thank you to all our sponsors, supporters and marshals and we will announce how much was raised for the good causes in a few weeks.

Winners

Youth Race - The Festival Five - 9 minutes, 28 seconds (short course)

Main Race - The Fat Tuesdays Boys - 11 minutes 50 seconds

Fun Race - The Man Cave Boys - 14 minutes 3 seconds

Ladies Race - Rio Trio - 18 minutes 47 seconds

Pub Race - The Deepings Stage - 20 minutes 57 seconds.

The event also included lots of varied stalls, a funfair and various supporting activities, with money raised for:

. Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance

. Peterborough Air Training Corps (Air Cadets)

. Deeping United Football Club

. Deaf Blind UK.