Brighton Festival Children’s Parade

It’s because of events like the Children’s Parade that I love Brighton. Please don’t become alarmed by that sentence, I refer to the quirkiness and underlying community spirit that you don’t always see in cities.
The majority off the times that i have witnessed the parade has been whilst in the North Laine on the front line as a chef. Thankfully, the *insert* hits the fan afterwards, so we always got to see the amazing costumes that the kids had made. I always take this event as my official start to the Brighton festival and this year I don’t have to cook.
I had just known it to run through the North Laine and I think that Tasha is on the money to suggest getting down to the seafront. To witness the culmination of the procession and all the mix match of costumes coming together for the finale would really put the event in context.
If you don’t have kids then it would be easy to dismiss the event, but it really is worth the effort of getting into town for the morning. If you do have kinds in Brighton then it is likely that you are going to be there anyhow, but if not get them involved because this is part of the festival that they will love the most.

This event takes place on the first Saturday of the Brighton Festival each year, and has opened the festival since 1989! If you’re in town you can’t help but notice it, even if it’s just due to the chaos of road closures and the distant noise of marching bands; the parade runs from the North Laine area, through town and down West Street, making its way down the sea front to the finale at Marine Parade — with over 4000 participants from over 75 schools, not to mention the tens of thousands of spectators (think of all the doting families for each child!), the event is chaotic but pretty spectacular.
I had the pleasure of being right in amongst it this Summer when I was in charge of marshalling right through the event. The event was really well organised with the kids’ safety a top priority. I dealt with many a shirty driver and stressy parent in the run up, but the parade itself was great — being the product of local schools of course the quality varied considerably, as did the morale of the kids (the ones without crazy dancing teachers and bands lookes a bit miserable sometimes!), but overall it was a visual extravaganza! The best thing I saw this year was dozens of infant school kids dressed as wasps (the theme was the harvest) — they were adorable!
Although more an event for the kids and their families, it’s well worth catching if you’re in town (and you can’t miss it if you’re shopping in the North Laine that morning). The finale at Marine Parade is worth checking out too as there’s music and street entertainers.