Photos: Charlie Milligan
THOUSANDS flocked to Soho for the annual village fête and hotly-contested waiters’ race.
The Waiters’ Race hospitality staff demonstrated incredible agility, balancing trays – loaded with bottles of sparkling wine, glasses and an ashtray – while sprinting through the historic, crowded streets (above).
Teams from Soho’s restaurants, pubs and bars went head-to-head in the historic event that was won by Alessandro from Bar Termini (below).
Jake from Quo Vadis was runner-up for the second year. Martina from Soho Hotel won the waitress race with Efe from Andrew Edmunds winning the “best dressed” category.
Martina from Soho Hotel
Winning waiters won cash prizes, a bottle of sparkling wine from and hardware for their restaurants from headline sponsor Square.
Efe from Andrew Edmunds
With the Morris dancers kicking up their heels, the fête was officially opened by “Mini Mayor Max”, a pupil at Soho Parish School, while the Belles of London City (below) danced on the steps in front of St Anne’s Church.
There was live music on stage from regulars Ray and Johnny and the Fabulous Lounge Swingers, supporting newcomers, Bob Morgan and Diego Laverde Rochas, and St Kat’s Sessions musicians, headlined by Ronnie Scott’s regular Olivia Swann.
Soho Drag Queen, Minnie Diamond, a regular fete favourite, appeared in an array of glamorous costumes including a full-length blue feather chiffon number.
The Soho police triumphed in the tug of war, Reverend Martha’s son Ruben won the spaghetti-eating competition, and in a Soho Fête first, joint winners for first prize for “Most Soho Dog” were a Romanian rescue dog called Juno and Pearly Long Legs.
St Anne’s Gardens was packed with stalls selling handmade crafts and homemade food. Games included the tombola, “Splat the Rat” (above), snail racing, with raffle stands and the new mystery game… not forgetting the “Human Fruit Machine” (below).
The main stage host was Peter Cliffe and the poster designs included cartoonist David Shenton. Sponsors include Square, GPE, Shaftesbury Capital, Fatta a Mano, Westminster Council, Storm Flowers London, Nyetimber, Pasta Carnaby and Yamaha Music London.
