Community arts charity Same Sky is hosting the annual Children’s Parade in Brighton on May 4 to signal the start of the Brighton Festival.
The Children’s Parade is a procession that involves local schoolchildren marching through central Brighton carrying handmade sculptures and wearing colourful costumes.
Same Sky artists will work with teachers, students, and volunteers from Brighton and Hove schools to create parade sculptures and choreograph dance routines.
John Varah, Same Sky creative director, said: “Each time we get to work with schoolchildren, it’s a splendid challenge, and each time it’s wonderful to actualise their dreams into incredible creations.”
The parade will start near the Jubilee Library and end at Kemptown Beach, and it is a free public event.
Robert Batson, Same Sky executive producer, said: “There will be three massive sculptures this year. The themes of these sculptures are steampunk explorers, clean our seas, and dreaming. You can’t miss them; they will be huge!
“They will be like the Vivienne Westwood sculpture last year. It will be like, ‘Oh my god, look at that thing!’”
Guest director Frank Cottrell-Boyce developed the parade’s ‘Dream Again’ theme and divided it into dreaming of something personal, a brighter future, and normal dreams.
Local schools will focus on different areas of the theme when creating their sculptures and costumes.
There will also be music at this parade, including a samba band, drummers, and a group led by disabled and non-disabled musicians, the Unified Rhythm.
Same Sky is working with sixty-five local schools for this parade, and five thousand children will be taking part, with an expected fifteen to twenty thousand spectators.
The Children’s Parade’s purpose is to enable children to express their creativity on a large scale, which aligns with Same Sky’s core ethos.
Same Sky is working in partnership with the Brighton Festival for this parade, and they receive funding from the Arts Council England and Brighton and Hove City Council.
The Children’s Parade has been taking place in Brighton since 1985.
To find out more, visit https://samesky.co.uk/events/childrens-parade-3/.
