Friday 1st July marks the 175th Anniversary of the Royal Victoria Arcade, in Union Street, Ryde.

To celebrate this, Historic Ryde Society has organised Royal Victorian Ryde, a three-day extravaganza with a Victorian flavour.

The main event is a grand procession at 1pm on Friday. 230 schoolchildren from Fiveways and Greenmount schools will parade from the new Anthony Minghella Square at John Street down Union Street to the Arcade, behind a horse-drawn carriage carrying Young Queen Victoria, accompanied by Andrew Turner, MP.

Starting the celebrations, from 11am there are free Magical History Tours on the 'Old Girl' [Southern Vectis's 1939 open-top bus], around historic points of interest in the town.

At 5pm in the Blacksheep Bar Basement, Union Street, Robert Poulter provides a nautical melodrama with his New Model [puppet] Theatre, followed by an Old Time Variety Theatre starting at 7.30, at Garfield Road Methodist Church Hall. Tickets, from Splash, Union Street, must be purchased for these two events.

For tomorrow's events, see tomorrow!

Full details of the weekend are on www.HistoricRydeSociety.com.