By Jenni Davidson
The theme for next year’s Brighton Festival Children’s Parade has been announced as The Arts.
Children in different sections of the parade will dress up as different arts genres, such as dance, theatre, film, visual arts and books.
The annual fancy dress parade is the opening event of the Brighton Festival each year on the first Saturday in May.
Each year the parade celebrates a different theme.
In the past these have included everything from letters of the alphabet to Brighton street names.
The theme for next year has been chosen to reflect the work the Brighton Festival 2014 guest director, Hofesh Shechter.
“Hofesh’s eclectic creative vision sparks the imagination of both young and old, and we want the parade to reflect the artistic variety he brings to his performance pieces,” said Pippa Smith, Head of Creative Learning at Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival.
For the first time, the organisers are joining forces with Brighton and Hove Music and Arts to create a Children’s Parade Musician in Residence who will visit schools and encourage young people to explore different musical styles.
Next year’s parade will take place on Saturday 3 May 2014.
Almost 5,000 children from 83 schools and community groups will take part dressed in costumes they have designed and made.
The Children’s Parade is jointly produced by the Brighton Festival and Same Sky.
Same Sky is a community arts organisation which also runs Burning the Clocks in December.
