The parade was led by the well-known samba band, BarulhoThe parade was led by the well-known samba band, Barulho
The parade was led by the well-known samba band, Barulho

See Steyning’s first children’s parade from 10 years ago

It is ten years since the first children's parade in Steyning, which saw hundreds of children parade through town with smiles beaming.

Families spent the day in the sunshine as the children’s parade opened the Steyning Festival in May 2012. Children aged four and upwards paraded a circular route around Steyning, starting and ending at Steyning Grammar School, in Shooting Field. More than 350 children from St Andrew’s Primary School, Upper Beeding Primary School, Elan Nursey, St Andrew’s Pre-School, Southdown Nursery, Happy Steps and Beeding and Bramber Pre-School took part in the event.

Organiser Rhiannon Stuart-Jones said at the time: “The parade was a fantastic success. We couldn’t have asked for better weather, and the amount of support and enthusiasm from everyone was overwhelming. The costumes were brilliant, the coronation coach was beautiful, our horses and royal trumpeter got the parade off to a wonderful start, and the samba band got everyone into the festival spirit. It was the perfect way to start Steyning Festival 2012. I am so grateful for everyone’s support and enthusiasm for our first parade.”

The parade was led by the well-known samba band, Barulho, which had performed at the Brighton Festival Children’s Parade, and passed through High Street, which was lined with 1,400ft of bunting, put together by local community groups and made entirely from recycled fabric. Taking around 45 minutes to complete, the parade was based on the Queen's diamond jubilee and the children created their own diamond-themed costumes to get into the spirit.

Christine Aubrey, festival chairman, said: “What a fabulous start to the festival, all the children really enjoyed it. Several people said how emotional they felt when they saw all the children dressed in their sparkly decorated t-shirts and crowns.”