Pointless Parade?

On Friday, I discovered that there was to be a parade in town and another fiesta. "Great fun", I thought, "but what was this one in aid of?" It turns out, that the entrants of the Moors and Christians Parade, hold another parade in March, to celebrate the 'half-year' of the parade! Excellent - any excuse for a party.

Sadly, this year, because of the wet and cold weather, there was every chance of it being cancelled. Still, Ed and I dressed up nice and warm, and found a sheltered spot on the high street, away from the drizzle. We waited patiently, but only a few more spectators arrived. Finally, rather late, a gaggle of girls (about 40 in total) slowly paraded down the street, with their following band making as much noise as possible. There were two 'filas' (groups), the first of them wore matching trendy yellow jackets with arabic scarves as a consession to the 'moors' and the second fila all wore long black kaftans. (They looked a little odd, as they all wore jeans and funky boots underneath - but who could blame them?)

There was no sign of anyone else, so we quickly scurried to a nearby bar, for a coffee and a warm, before going back home. Walking back to the car, we could hear the sounds of parties in all of the fila bars, so I'm sure there were plenty of sore heads about today.