Tribal dancers on Winkle Island gave a stunning display of Eastern dance before the procession wound through the Old Town and onto the seafront.
Mayor Kim Forward and MP Amber Rudd joined 18-year-old April Grant as she was crowned Carnival Queen for 2011, and carnival princesses Nicole Pavitt, 21, and Lucy Richardson, 16.
Drumming and dancing displays by local troupes made sure Hastings Old Town Carnival Week began with a bang.
Tony Streeter, organiser of the RNLI Hastings Beach Concert said he was ‘delighted’ with the gig that took place over the weekend, and that crowds of between 2,000 and 3,000 marked the largest ever audience for the event while cries echoed from the steps of St Clements Church from a host of hopefuls battling it out for Old Town Crier and brawny drinkers battled back and forth on The Stade in the annual tug o’ war.
An energetic crowd gathered in the Old Town to see the ninth annual seaboot race while a stunning display of colour and creativity won over judges of the best dressed window in All Saints Street. Penbuckles Deli and the High Street Retro Centre jointly won the accolade. Courthouse traders also hosted a street party with antique-hunters and history buffs, normally the mainstay of Courthouse Street, made way for carnival games, stalls and street performances in a day-long bonanza that drew a busy crowd.
A life-style travelling puppet show beat off a generation of pop stars and an Arabian band to take first prize in the Old Town treasure trail fancy dress quiz while High Street trader Harris Woodcock and her team hauled a Punch and Judy stage along the quiz route, stopping for impromptu performances at busy points along the route.
What a lot going on...