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West End Festival Mardi Gras Parade 2013

Don’t rain on our parade – it’s our 18th birthday!

www.westendfestival.co.uk

This weekend, Sunday 9th June, the West End Festival’s Mardi Gras Parade, which features some 600 participants and is sponsored by itison, returns to Byres Road for its 18th birthday and it’s expected that there will be 70,000 visitors to the area to witness the colourful spectacle and enjoy a day out.

In addition to the parade, which leaves the Botanic Gardens at 3pm, there will be street buskers, 60 food and craft stalls spread along Byres Road, the first ever Seafood Showcase (free event) in a bespoke arena and the first Ceilidh on the Corner.
Entertainment will be organised from 1pm and stop for the parade to take place and then start again at 4pm.
Byres Road will be closed from 8am until 8pm on Festival Sunday and west end businesses and residents are being asked to be mindful of this, as there will be no access to Byres Road during these hours.

What’s going on in the parade?

   
• Fairytales of the Unexpected by Royal Conservatoire of Scotland students – a Disney style castle section with a variety of costumed characters and puppets within its walls.
• A group of human roller-skates.

• Large puppet makes representing Glasgow and Scotland.

• Several community groups are following the flying high – aspiration theme.

• A group of pink itison morphs.

• Clyde, the official mascot of the Commonwealth Games 2014.

• Other sections have interpreted things more individually. CAOS from Clydebank are Outer Space, Temple-Shafton Youth Project are dragons, our city centre youth project are flying machines whilst another group are iPods and iPhones. There will also be a thistle section too and three separate Chinese sections (lions and dragons). 

• Six full samba bands including home grown favourites sheBOOM and Samba Y Bamba – and a community-based one which was formed out of a programme of samba drumming and costume making workshops all over the city and it is made up of people from the different areas. 

• Seafood Showcase

• There will be cookery demonstrations by Glasgow Chefs such as John Quigley and through the Showcase there will be activities geared towards getting families cooking and eating together as well as trying to get people to buy better. Zero Waste Scotland and Seafood Scotland are supporting the event. As well as the great food available there will be live music from the Seafood Buskers and the Fisherman’s Wife’s Choir. The Showcase will take place from 12pm – 8pm at Byres Road.

• Ceildh on the corner – Grab your granny by the hand and head along to Ceilidh on the Corner also at Byres Road.

• There is nothing better than a family jig with some of Scotland’s premier Ceilidh bands to wipe away the cob webs of a Sunday afternoon. This fun event kicks off at 12pm with Reely Jiggered and that is what you will be if you keep dancing through the sets of Lua Dansa, Deoch n Dorus and The Reel Stramash.

• It’s an opportunity to make a day of it with friends or family and get your stomp on with some of Scotland’s most well-known Scottish dancing including the Gay Gordons and the Canadian Barn Dance. Tickets £5.00, Concessions £3.00, Family Ticket £15.00 (2 adults and two children)

Liz Scobie, chairman of the festival added a reminder:

“The local shops, restaurants and bars will be celebrating with us and it’s great that so many people can take advantage of what the festival, in particular Festival Sunday, has to offer.
“We’ve been working to alert people to the road closure, licensing, the activities taking place and also to remind people that it’s a family friendly day.
“We want everyone and their Granny to come along on Sunday – it’s a special birthday for us this year and we hope everyone will join in the celebrations in true party style!”    
 
As it’s a family day festival goers are urged to be sensible when drinking and abide by the licensing laws.

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