BABIES, toddlers and youngsters from in and around Basingstoke will be lining up to have their pictures taken next week – and one of them will be crowned as the Cute Kids 2013 winner.

Gazette Newspapers, Festival Place and Fraser Portraits have again teamed up to stage the popular Cute Kids competition.

As in previous years, there will be three categories – 0 to nine months, 10 to 18 months and 19 to 36 months.

Photographs will be taken in Porchester Square, Festival Place, Basingstoke, on the following days and times:

* Monday, January 21, until Saturday, January 26 – 10am to 5pm

* Sunday, January 27 – 11am to 5pm

Entry to the competition is by original voucher only. The next one will be printed in Thursday’s Gazette and others will be printed next Monday and Thursday.

Parents or adult relatives or carers who accompany youngsters to the photo sessions must take a voucher along to have one child’s sitting done free of charge.

The photos will then be available to view, and orders can be placed to purchase, when Fraser Portraits return to put the pictures on display in Porchester Square from January 30 to February 1.

Parents or other carers will also be able to choose which individual photo appears in our Cute Kids 2013 picture special.

This year, the Cute Kids special will appear in The Gazette of February 28 – and then readers will have the chance to vote for their favourites.

The readers’ votes will determine the shortlist of finalists, and the winners and runners-up in each category will then be chosen by a panel of judges.

There will also be an overall winner – so all of this year’s contestants will be bidding to follow in the footsteps of last year’s overall champ Rosanna Macmillan.