HUNDREDS of people gathered in Cottingley today to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Cottingley Fairies.

The fairy festival took place at the Cottingley Recreation Ground, and saw swathes of people in magical outfits gather to celebrate the centenary of the village’s famous story.

Chris Ogden, festival organiser, said: “We’ve had a really good turnout, it’s a special event for Cottingley.

“There was some fantastic costumes this year, and the fancy dress competition was very tough to judge.

“It’s really lovely to get people together, and this year we wanted to make it more child-friendly and child-orientated.

“Thankfully the weather held off, and we had lots of helpers from Northwind Tribal belly dance group in Keighley in some really great costumes.”

The festival is inspired by the story of two young cousins who took a collection of photos in Cottingley appearing to show them playing with small fairies 100 years ago.

The images captured the imagination of famous author Arthur Conan Doyle - creator of detective Sherlock Holmes - who published the photos in a national magazine as proof fairies were real.

In the 1980s the cousins, Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths, confessed that the images were fakes.