Jenny Soep's: Teenage Fanclub, and Scotland's Mardi Gras Parade

What a fantastic Parade! What costumes, dancers, puppets, performers, colours, madness, wow! The giant caterpillar that kept bending down to taste the crowd, the many helium balloons that floated off without their children attached, the tasty smells that permeated the entire closed off route, the throngs of sombrero/fez/furry cowboy hat toting public, the stalls, the henna tattooists, the paintings on railings (which I still actually haven't seen up close - I should be there selling, no wait, I should pawn the services of some young sibling of mine to do my selling for me.

Highlights - some amazingly agile capoeira dudes, particularly the chap that jumped down the road sideways on his hands!!! His stomach was like brick work, I'm not kidding, and then later in the park, there was a couple just hurling themselves through time and space like the martial arts heros in east asian films, minus strings attached. Then there were the bee people - with men in bee costumes, furry spikey sting and spikey tits attached. The Burlesque/Cabaret Dancers, the Carnival dancers, the lily pad brigade, the graceful futuristic girls on stilts, the mighty samba bands from last night. There was a lot that impressed me. Anyway, it's 2.31am. I will write more as a review, but suffice to say it was an amazingly sunny day, great parade, ended with some lovely music from Snow Goose and Teenage Fanclub at Oran Mor. Lovely to draw them and see Norman with his band. (Also lead singer of Snow Goose is definitely someone to keep an eye on!)

Quick mention to Stephen who saved my space in the car park above Somerfield - it really was a great space for seeing the Carnival, and thank you!