Thousands of school children from Brighton and Hove were taking part in the Children’s Parade this morning (Saturday 7 May).
And thousands more people, mostly parents and relatives, lined the route to watch them.
The children’s parade is the traditional opening event of the Brighton Festival and involves children, staff and parents from dozens of schools.
The parade set off from Kensington Street, Brighton, at about 10.30am and headed along New Road and East Street to Madeira Drive.
After a damp start to the morning the sun had come out by the time the parade began. The breeze was mostly light and the temperature was climbing towards the low sixties – or about 16C to 17C.
The organiser, Same Sky, has run workshops to encourage the creation of a fantastic array of costumes and classes in samba music and dance to bring a carnival feel to the parade.
More than 30 of the schools taking oart had have children playing music along the way.
Same Sky, which also organises Burning the Clocks in December, lost its £95,000 Arts Council grant earlier this year, accounting for about a quarter of its income.
The arts group has asked for donations of £1 to its “Quids for Kids” fundraising campaign. It said: “Text samesky to 70100 to donate.
“Same Sky has been making amazing arts events like the Brighton Festival Children’s Parade for 25 years.
“The Children’s Parade is very fortunate to have the full support of the Brighton Festival who not only fund it but have worked with us tirelessly to develop and sustain it.”
It added that the fundraising texts would cost £1 plus the usual network charge, with Same Sky receiving at least 80p from each text donation.
