Pictures: Queen Rebecca crowned as Marymass Saturday begins

Rebecca, her four Marys and pageboys received a warm welcome on their big day, with all agreeing they did the town proud.

Wellwishers crowded the streets of the town to see the grand procession, with some fantastic floats, make its way to the moor for all the fun and games.

Sadly, once again there was no greasy pole event this year, apparently, like the 2022 event, due to insurance issues.

But that didn't stop the fun, with some very competitive horse racing, a huge amount of stalls and plenty of funfair action for all to enjoy.

This year's Marymass parade - always one of the biggest horse-drawn processions in Scotland - left from Broomlands Drive at 10am, giving the town a true carnival atmosphere.

The crowning took place outside the Townhouse at noon, when Queen Rebecca and her Marys - Summer Henderson, Hollie Surgenor, Emily Muir and Freya Fitzsimmons - took centre stage.

Despite a spit of rain during the ceremony, the skies cleared for the parade to make it's way to the moor.

And there was some splendid entertainment from Ayrshire's Rock Choir and the Irvine and Dreghorn Band.

At her reception party, North Ayrshire Provost Anthea Dickson paid tribute to the royal party, the Carters Society and all the voluntyeers who worked so hard to make the event such a success.

She also paid a special tribute to her predecessor as Provost Iain Clarkson, who died in May this year and was a former chair of the Marymass Committee.

While today's pictures from our photgrapher Charlie Gilmour focus on the crowning ceremony, you can expect to see a lot more fantastic shots on our website over the next few days.

Check in with us tomorrow for a whole load of brilliant shots from the parade  - followed by photographs of some of the fun and games on the Moor.

And Monday is set to feature a big selection of crowd shots from the day - who knows, you might just see some people you know.