Thousands of children brought a riot of music, colour, sparkle and bubbles to the city this morning.
More than 5,000 youngsters and teenagers from schools across Brighton and Hove danced, marched and twirled through the city centre’s streets with floats and dazzling costumes for the Children’s Parade, marking the official opening of Brighton Festival.
Inspired by guest director Frank Cottrell-Boyce’s chosen theme of “Dream Again”, artists from community-led arts maestros Same Sky, the charity behind the Burning the Clocks festival, collaborated with students, teachers and volunteers to make magnificent sculptures, choreograph dance routines and compose parade chants.
Gnomes, fairies, sleeping sculptures, jellyfish, Salvador Dalis, sheep, a flying pig and an orangutan were just some of the amazing sights to behold among the throng of participants winding their way through the streets.
Schools took inspiration from mythical creatures and literary characters including the monsters from Maurice Sendak's book Where the Wild Things Are.
Read more: All the pictures from this year's Children's Parade
Many schools also touched upon important issues such as climate change and current conflicts in the world.
The pavements were packed with crowds eager to get a glimpse of the wonderful display which set off from Jubilee Street and ended at Madeira Drive to the tune of trumpets, samba bands and much more.
Sarah Perryman’s six-year-old son Finn took part in the parade with his primary school Carlton Hill.
It was the first time Finn, who had the theme of space for his costume, had participated.
“It hopefully won’t be the last time,” said Sarah, 44.
“We’ve had a really fun day.
“The crowd have been brilliant.”
Finn loved his space costume and said he’d had a good time.
Liz Brooten, 40, was in the parade with her daughter Evie, who goes to St John the Baptist Catholic School, Brighton.
Seven-year-old Evie, who was dressed in a deely bobber and a pair of wings, said she danced all the way and had “a lot of fun”.
“We’ve had a really lovely time,” said Liz.
“There was a great atmosphere and it’s been so nice to be a part of it.”
The parade has been running for nearly 30 years and organisers say it is the largest of its kind in Europe.
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