This is your moment: Those were the words from a thrilled parish council last week after a village in East Hampshire was crowned the county’s best.

Bramshott & Liphook was named the joint winner of the 2026 Hampshire Village of the Year competition on a glorious evening in Odiham last Wednesday.

And the title shared with Yateley wasn’t the only accolade of the night, as its historic carnival came runner-up in the Best Community Event of the year category.

Parish councillors admitted to shedding tears as the result was confirmed with ‘community’ being the key word.

Groups like Liphook in Group, Liphook Community Laundry, the carnival, MAD and Heritage Society were approached with B&LPC “throwing everything but the kitchen sink” in their bid to the Hampshire Association of Local Councils.

“It was very much a community entry, said B&LPC deputy clerk, Geraldine Sheedy, to Shine Radio.

“It was centred around the outstanding programme of inclusive community events that we offer, the strong culture of volunteerism and the way local residents work together to help each other out.

“I know we’re not a really pretty village, we’re not picture postcard pretty, but we certainly have some amazing, beautiful people here.

“We will certainly be making a lot of noise about it over the next few months. It’s been great.”

The tone was set early in the evening when HALC named the carnival – celebrating its 125th anniversary this year – as runner-up in community event of the year.

“When the judges mentioned the carnival, I looked around the room and thought ‘surely there’s no villages in here running with carnivals’ and I couldn’t believe it when it was us,” said Sam Hawkins.

“We waited a little while and then we got village of the year. What a result.”