THE Lord Mayor of Canterbury, Cllr Carolyn Parry, has visited twin city Reims for one of her first official duties representing Canterbury at the annual Fête Johannique.

She met mayors and representatives from the other twin cities of Reims, Aachen, Arlington, Brazzaville, Florence, Salzburg, and Kutna-Hora (Czech Republic).

Canterbury Reims Twinning Association organised a coach for member to visit the festival, one of the biggest in France. It commemorates the crowning of Charles V by Joan of Arc. All kings of France were crowned in Reims Cathedral.

On the Sunday morning, following a solemn mass in the cathedral, all the twin city mayors gave a short speech with Cllr Parry getting a large round of applause for her French.

The afternoon saw a procession of 1,400 participants in historical costume parading around the city. During the weekend there were continuous musical events, including folk concerts by various international groups. Canterbury was represented by the Kent Police Band resplendent in dress uniform, Capriole, a medieval dance group, Codpiece Replica, a folk band, the Wantsum Morris and Philip Martin, Canterbury’s hurdy-gurdy player.