Jazz Festival Planning A 2012 "Festivals Carnival"

Submitted by edg on Fri, 17 Feb '12 9.38pm

The Edinburgh Jazz Festival is planning a "Festivals Carnival", much like the Festivals' Cavalcade, to mark the start of Edinburgh's Summer Festivals.

The Festivals' Cavalcade used to run the length of Princes Street at the beginning of August with thousands of performers and groups taking part with decorated floats and costumes that would attract 150,000 people along the route.

However, due to the tram works the Cavalcade moved to Holyrood Park in 2009 and 2010 and then last year it was cancelled after the main organiser resigned.

The parade that is being proposed would take place along Princes Street on the 22nd July - the first Sunday of this year's Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival.

Although reports are calling the Carnival a revival of the original Cavalcade, a way of marking the start of all the Edinburgh Festivals, as it comes two weeks before the start of the Fringe on 3rd, many of the performers from other Festivals are unlikely to take part, so it would be a slimmed down event.

The Jazz Festival used to have a free Jazz on a Summer's Day event in Princes Streets Gardens that was quite popular and so this would also seem a good way to revive (and expand) that event.

I'm sure the free family day will be widely welcomed, and it would be an added attraction for the Jazz Festival. As anyone who joined the throng of people for the Mardi Gras (see pic above) in the Old Town last year knows, free music in the street is always a big draw.

Beautiful weather on the day helped, of course.