ImagesBrighton pictures of the week 4-5-2004

IMAGESBRIGHTON photography by david gray
	B R I G H T O N C H I L D R E N S P A R A D E
	P I C T U R E S O F T H E W E E K 4 - 5 - 2 0 0 4

Brighton has an annual festival in May and some of its best features are the free outdoor events. The launch of the festival is a parade of more than 3,000 local children, all dressed up according to a particular theme. This year it was books and, interestingly, Harry Potter made not a single appearance. Maybe we've all had an overdose of Hogwarts. Quite apart from the children, many of the adults in the event take it pretty seriously as well. Parents in Brighton tend to wear some fairly wacky stuff on a routine basis, so dressing up comes easily to them. There is also fierce competition between the schools taking part. The result is a hectic, joyous and very noisy affair that is one of the most pleasurable events in the south of England. Luckily, the rain held off last Saturday and most of the costumes and decorations made it intact till the end of the procession.

Each school in the parade provides its own costumes and decorations (image 2508-18)

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