IT will be hats in the air in Great Malvern and Barnards Green tomorrow when the Malvern Carnival and Hat Festival brings its zany fun to town.

And Yarnbomb Great Malvern has been busy creating colourful bunting and miniature hats to decorate the town centre, plus a special crown for the Elgar statue on Belle Vue Terrace, which MP Harriett Baldwin will in the morning.

The festivities proper take off at 1pm when mayor Julian Roskams and fellow councillors will be judging the hat competition.

Among the categories are best male hat, best female hat, best children’s hat, best pets/animals hat, best classic hat, best eccentric hat, best trader’s hat, and the judges' own award. There will be a similar competition in Barnards Green from 2pm.

180 dancers from all over Herefordshire and Worcestershire will be dancing in Rosebank Gardens from 1pm, and there will be a mass hat photo below Belle Vue Terrace at 1.30pm.

There will be street entertainment and shops such as Iapetus and Carnival Records are putting on special events.

The procession starts at 2pm, going down Church Street and Avenue Road to Barnards Green, finishing at Geraldine Road.

Barnards Green will be alive with plenty of games, activities and competitions to keep people entertained until the procession comes along.

Iapetus Gallery on Belle Vue Terrace have joined in the spirit of the day by creating a life-sized Mad Hatter’s Tea Party in their window.

Anyone taking part in the hat festival to come in, sit with the Mad Hatter and have their picture taken and uploaded to the gallery's Facebook page.

Anna Brook of Iapetus said: “We thought the hat festival was such a fun idea we had to get involved. One of our staff is a little obsessed with Alice in Wonderland so it was an easy choice. We can’t wait to see what madcap hats will be around and hope locals will turn out to support this wonderful event.”