IMAGINATIONS ran riot in Felixstowe to produce a colourful carnival cavalcade with a wonderful collection of fancy dress characters and floats.

For the first time in many years, there was also the return of an old favourite at Felixstowe – the fabled Bigheads, larger-than-life cartoon characters with over-sized heads, marching with the parade.

Crowds lined the streets on the hottest day of the year to enjoy the big procession, with organisers estimating around 20,000 revellers attending the spectacle.

The Bury St Edmunds-based Glenmoriston Pipe Band led the parade with carnival queen Betheny Relph, 18, and princesses Jessica Read, Emma Watts, both ten, and Holly England, 13, also near the front.

This year’s theme was Imagination and there was a wide variety of different ideas present on the decorative floats, with many, like Peewit Caravan Park, focusing on characters from children’s literature and TV. Spitfires and Treehouse Nursery chose Alice in Wonderland, while Felixstowe and District Childminders Group went for a Greek legends theme.

Other floats included Change-of-a Dress, the Orwell District Scouts, the Sea Cadets, Felixstowe Rugby Club, and a rock’n’roll extravaganza from Felixstowe Radio, and the noisy Spa summer youth project, while Level Two celebrated GB’s Olympic success.

The prince and princess of the resort’s German twin town Wesel proved very popular, accompanied by the mayor and mayoress, Mike Deacon, who walked with a bucket collecting cash, and his wife Ann.

Also among the dozens of entries were the Gypsy Dreams Belly Dancers.Majorettes included the Black Ice troupe, Urban Allstars, Limestar, and Ipswich Silver Spinners.

Organisers made some changes this year – including bringing the procession time forward and cheaper tickets – to try to encourage more families to attend the entertainment in Langer Park, and will be assessing the success of the initiatives after the event.

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