FENLAND hosted the UK’s biggest koi carp festival at the weekend.

More than 2,000 people from across the country travelled to Mudds Drove, Three Holes for the 2012 East of England Koi Show on Saturday (July 21).

The event has already won the coveted title of Best UK Koi Show for the past two years and made a bid for a hat-trick this year with a variety of displays and demonstrations of the finest quality carp.

“There was a fantastic atmosphere and a great range of dealers,” said Ian Kirkbright, whose wife Sally was Chairwoman of the Show.

“The judges have said in the past that the quality of the fish of the exhibition makes this one of the hardest shows to judge, because the quality is so fresh.”

Organisers will find out whether they have won the accolade for the third year in a year after the end of the koi show season in December or January.

There were 315 fish in the show, with the biggest being 92cm long.

The alpacas made a return following their appearance at last year’s show and the Japanese Akita Welfare Trust promoted its work helping to rescue Akitas in need.

There was also a demonstration of how to create a bonsai from a stock plant.