Crowds line Princes Street as Edinburgh Festival Carnival gets underway

MORE than 800 performers joined in an extravaganza of high-energy music and dazzling costumes to mark the start of this year’s festival season.

Crowds lined Princes Street to watch the seventh Edinburgh Festival Carnival as it set the city centre humming with the rhythms of salsa, African drummers, Balkan beats and swirling pipes.

The parade included sequined dancers, feathered costumes, Chinese dragons, as well as fire-eaters, jugglers, stilt walkers and circus performers.

And after processing along Princes Street, they dispersed into Princes Street Gardens where people were able to enjoy an afternoon of live 
performances.

Yesterday’s parade was led by carnival favourites Barefeet Theatre, an acrobat group from Zambia.

And there were performers from 12 different countries, including China, South Africa, Brazil, Jamaica, Zambia, Martinique, Holland, France, Spain and Portugal.

The Capital is already busy with tourists and numbers will only increase as the festival season goes on.

The Jazz and Blues Festival, celebrating its 40th birthday this year, started on Friday and runs until July 22.

The Art Festival opens on July 26 and runs until August 26.

The Edinburgh International Festival and the Fringe both run from August 3 to 27. The Edinburgh Military Tattoo is on from August 3 to 25.

The Book Festival is August 11-27 and the Edinburgh Mela is September 1-2.

Video used with permission from Alan Lyall