This year’s carnival procession on Southend seafront raised a total of £5,815 from donations by the viewing public, in aid of local charities and causes.
Thousands of people lined the seafront to watch the bggest carnival parade in a decade, featuring over 50 colourful entries. Southend seafront came alive with music and costumes from a diverse mix of community organisations, local businesses and charities from across South East Essex.
Entries in the carnival procession included Rampage who performed their “Africa: The Land of Colour” show, dancing to carnival music wearing huge colourful costumes.
Other highlights included floats and entries from Funky Voices community choir, a farm-themed float from Southend Carnival sponsor SummerCare, Samba drummers from the BrazilArte Academy and an Alice in Wonderland themed float from the Westcliff Genting Casino.
Southend Carnival’s Vice Chairman, Gemma Cartwright, said: “It was a really exciting carnival, much bigger than previous years with lots of great local organisations returning to take part. It was the biggest carnival in at least a decade.”
She added: “Next year we want to make the carnival even bigger, brighter and busier!”
This year’s carnival procession was sponsored by Southend-based care provider SummerCare, who also hosted a successful new Accessible Viewing Area on the City Beach seafront for people with disabilities or those who wished to watch the procession in a more secure environment.