Sunshine – both meteorological and masquerade – lit up the seafront at Eastbourne on Saturday 27 May. By lunchtime, the East Sussex resort’s main promenade was jammed with spectators who waited patiently in brilliant sunshine and a chill wind, with wheeling, squealing seagulls overhead.
Leading the way were a colourfully feathered contingent from Brixton-based Sunshine International Arts and Metronomes Steel Orchestra, playing sweetly. What followed was a seemingly endless succession of small and enthusiastic local groups portraying the theme ‘Sussex by the Sea’ in eclectic, sometimes eccentric, ways.
The multitude of revellers took almost an hour to pass the entrance to the town’s exotically golden-domed pier. Soca News spotted jellyfish, cutlass-wielding pirates, bathers in stripy Victorian costumes, black-clad gymnasts nonchalantly turning cartwheels, roller skaters, a human punch-and-judy stall, inflatable sharks, heavily costumed Peruvian dancers, a swarm of bees, the Eastbourne Silver Band, classical singers and a variety of drummers – one lot in Goth-style black and purple outfits – plus a trailer-load of gunpowder and rockets courtesy of the Eastbourne Bonfire Society (Sussex is famous for its obsession with pyrotechnics and blazing tar barrels). This being Eastbourne, wheelchairs outnumbered motorised vehicles, so you couldn’t fault the carnival’s inclusivity.
The parade finished in a spacious, manicured seafront park next to the Wish Tower, built 200 years ago to keep small boats from France from reaching British beaches (some things never change). It was the ideal place for a post-parade picnic. If you hadn’t brought your own food, you could choose from a huge variety of cafés, and there were at least three Caribbean food stalls too, so no masquerader had to be deprived of roti, jerk chicken and vegan ackee fritters.
And on the short stroll back to the station, SN’s ear was caught by the strains of David Rudder’s High Mas. Parked in a side street, Ditzy Media’s truck provided the sounds for an all-too-brief end-of-carnival jam – a good way to end an exhilarating taste of ‘Sussex by the Sea’.
