Carnival Time

Photos Copyright: Maggie May

Bristol sometimes has a bad press in the media and all sorts of things seem to crop up from time to time, leaving people thinking its not a safe place to live in.

I personally think it is a great place and it is always good to show off our city, which is what I do whenever possible.

One of the things that Bristol is good at, is the yearly Carnival at St. Paul's.

This year I decided to go and see the parade of dancers, drummers and displays. I went on my own..... just one person out of many thousands, because this occasion draws people in from all over the place.

When I arrived in this vibrant area, where many diverse ethnic people live and every year come onto the streets to celebrate, I found a low wall to sit on and waited for things to happen.

There were barbecues all along the streets and some of the dishes I could smell were jerk flavoured goat and rice, which I resisted, being a vegetarian. However it did smell good.

The Carnival would go on all weekend and there would be bands going on all night. However, not for this grannie.

I pushed myself forward to take photos .

Sometimes it seemed as though the skull guided itself.......

.......and I had to search for the person inside the display.

Fortunately, it was not too hot or too cold, which was just as well because the dancers had to carry on for 3 hours.

The parade took one and a half hours to pass me by.

There were so many children in the parade and many of the local schools were represented.

I think everyone enjoyed it. I definitely did. If you happened to be there and saw a little grannie sitting on a wall.... then it was me!