Festival Carnival Parade needs you - The Edinburgh Reporter

A new Edinburgh Festival Carnival parade will take place right in the city centre in July.

The Edinburgh Festival Carnival is limbering up for its biggest – and brightest – year yet! The parade will take 700 Carnival performers from the top of the Mound to the West End of Princes Street in an extravaganza of eye-popping colour and high-energy music!

And it’s not just for spectators! The people of Edinburgh are invited to take part in the parade alongside professional musicians, dancers and costumed performers. Individuals, families or groups can attend a range of costume-making, music-making and dance workshops throughout July, or sign up to come along on the day and wear one of the fantastic Carnival costumes!

Now in its third year, the Festival Carnival is becoming the key event in the launch of Summer Festival Season, and will once again set Princes Street and Princes Street Gardens abuzz with live music, sequined dancers, feathered costumes, circus performers and street theatre in one big dazzling spectacle under the castle!

The Parade, led by carnival favourites Kalentura from the Netherlands, will lead over 100 live drummers, over 200 international musicians, 150 circus and fire performers, a dazzling range of costumes and puppets, all coming together from 17 different countries (including South Africa, Zambia, the Bahamas, Italy, Germany, Colombia, Costa Rica as well as Scottish and UK acts) down the hill to the West End of Princes Street. The city centre will be an international carnival spectacular!

Last year’s Festival Carnival attracted 17,000 residents and visitors from in and around Edinburgh on one of the hottest days of the year. The event takes place from 2-4.30 pm on Sunday 20th July – with free admission for all, thanks to the support of the council.

Cllr Steve Cardownie, Festivals and Events Champion, City of Edinburgh Council, said:

“Offering live song and dance from hundreds of musicians drawn from all corners of the globe, the Festival Carnival will bring the buzzing atmosphere of Mardi Gras to the streets of Edinburgh. This will herald a lively parade and superb day out for the start of the Festival season.”

The Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival runs the Carnival, and Producer, Roger Spence, said:

“Princes Street and the Gardens were brimming with colour and music for our Carnival last year, and we were delighted with the attendance and positive feedback for our second year. It was such a pleasure for us and for the many people who supported the event to have that special party atmosphere. With the addition of the Festival Parade this year, an ambitious and dramatic kick-off to events and a first for Edinburgh, the Carnival is going to be bigger – and even better – on July 20. We look forward to welcoming residents and visitors.”

The Parade running from 2-2.30pm will disperse into the Gardens and the Grassmarket for an afternoon of live performances.

The Gardens will host 15 performance areas with face-painting, circus performers, a circus skills drop-in workshop, acrobatics, costumes, dancing, puppets, drumming, Chinese dragons and dancing, The Big Red Bus with Story telling, brass bands and a full line-up of entertainment at the Ross Bandstand.

The Grassmarket will have three stages with street dancing, live music, fire performers, drumming, costumes as well as an amazing range of hot street food stalls serving tastes of the world from paella to Jamaican chicken.

Among the acts participating are Artscape’s Youth Band, a township band from Cape Town, which will be leading workshops prior to Carnival day, then inviting participants to play alongside them in the Parade; Junkanoo Commandos from the Bahamas, alongside their costume-making and music workshop participants; Barefeet from Zambia; Gwanaval from Martinique; Bombrando from Portugal; and the Beltane Fire Society from Edinburgh.

In celebration of the Carnival and the workshops being held throughout July (thanks to support from the Scottish Government’s Expo Fund, Brouhaha International, Summerhall, South African Government and Artscape, Cape Town) the Edinburgh Festival Carnival Party is being held on Saturday 5^th July from 9pm-1am at Summerhall – with live bands, circus performers, DJs and exotic carnival costumes. Tickets are available from the website or 0131 473 2000.

Edinburgh Festival Carnival organisers are also looking for volunteers (ages 16 and over) to support the Carnival and all of the supporting events. For all volunteer opportunities, contact anna@adjazz.co.uk or call 0131 467 5200.