A royal knees-up will take place in a flood-affected Aberdeenshire village next month in celebration of the Queen’s 90th birthday.
Volunteers have organised a Happy Birthday Ma’am street party in Ballater in honour of the occasion on Saturday, June 11.
The event is designed to drum up community spirit in the Deeside village, which is famously close to the hearts of the Royal Family.
Money raised from the occasion will be forwarded on to local flood victims.
The street party is also hoping to attract tourists to Ballater following Storm Frank – which left a number of businesses in ruins, many of which have now reopened.
It will feature live music, a bouncy castle, karaoke and games.
Ballater resident Lorraine Barr will be encouraging people to sponsor a tree for what will be known as The Queen’s Ballater Wood at the party.
The woodlands will feature 90 trees of different tree species which are known favourites of the Queen.
Rev David Barr, who is helping organise the street party, said: “All of the volunteers involved in the planning of the party were affected by the floods in some way.
“We all really wanted to give something back to the community which allowed everyone to get together and celebrate what a fantastic place Ballater is.
“The Royal Family took a great interest in Ballater after the flooding and we received daily encouragement through telephone calls from the palace. It meant a great deal to us all.
“The whole situation has definitely brought us all closer together, we’re such a tight-knit community and everyone is helping to spread the word that Ballater is still open for business.”
Richard Watts, chairman of the Ballater Business Association, added: “There has been a real buzz in the village in the run-up to the Queen’s birthday street party.
“It’s so inspiring to see how far Ballater has come as a village and as a community.”
The event is free and will take place in the Churchyard Green from 2pm until 11pm.
For more information on the street party contact revdavidbarr@btinternet.com; and, for the tree planting, call 01339 756 111.
