A HUGE carnival featuring hundreds of people will bring the streets of Bournemouth to life this weekend.
Carnival By The Sea will see more than 300 residents come together to bring Arts by the Sea to a close on Sunday afternoon, October 2.
The free spectacle is set to be the biggest carnival parade to ever hit the streets of Bournemouth and will set off from Horsehoe Common at 5.15pm.
It will then travel down Old Christchurch Road, into Gervis Place, through Bournemouth Lower Gardens, before ending up on the terrace at the Pavilion.
The event will finish by around 6.15pm.
International carnival specialists Global Grooves, best known for creating a section of the Platinum Jubilee pageant in London this June, are behind the event.
Read more: Arts by the Sea festival 2022 - everything you need to know
Ahead of the carnival, Global Grooves put out a call out across the conurbation for people to get involved and hundreds expressed their interest, including the Brazilian Education and Cultural Centre, the Indian Cultural Association of Dorset and Dorset Ukrainian Community CIC.
Freya Bennett-Nielsen, parade producer for Global Grooves, said: "We invited Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole to come out and play and hundreds of people said yes please.
"We've met funky drummers and incredible dancers in all styles, from Brazilian samba, to Indian classical dance and Afrobeat.
"Everywhere we have been, we have found people with a huge passion for community and carnival and we know that Sunday's event is going to be something very special."
Among the highlights will be a squad of nine giant walkabout puppets, towering above the crowds at up to 4m high.
Read more: Arts by the Sea reveals music programme for the 2022 festival
Accompanying the jumbo puppets will be a flock of curly-beaked birds, more than 75 dancers in brightly coloured crinolines, a troupe of baby angels, two young Ukrainian gymnasts, 25 drummers, 100 flag bearers, and a number of DJs and MCs from a local Afrobeat record label.
The parade will be led by a carnival queen character called The Spirit of Courage, to be played by Bournemouth drag artist Delatrix.
Andrea Francis, cultural development manager, BCP Council and Arts by the Sea festival director, said: "Arts by the Sea is all about bringing people together through extraordinary experiences and this year’s parade is going to be one of the most extraordinary events yet.
"We hope everyone in BCP will come down to enjoy the spectacle”.
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