Bring on the parade

Jun 19 2008 Craig Davidson

SCOTLAND' S answer to the Mardi Gras attracted thousands of people to the streets of Glasgow's west end.

A gala parade was held on Byres Road to mark the opening of the 13th West End Festival on Sunday.

Hundreds of people dressed up in a variety of themes to bring an explosion of colour to the streets of Glasgow.

Five stages were set up on the route to let the revellers enjoy live music.

And thousands turned up throughout the course of the day to lap up the sights and enjoy the sun shine. Festival organiser Michael Dale said: "As opening parades go it was probably the best yet.

"Of course the weather helps and despite the forecasts we couldn't have asked for any better.

"But the Mardi Gras parade was very good and had more than 700 people there.

"We had visitors from London, Newcastle, Edinburgh Cumbria, Brighton and even Toulouse who all enjoyed it and think we have the right vibe and tone.

"But that is just the start of things and we have a good spread of events on for the full fortnight."

Michael recommends the world's first 'dog play', called ' Who Ate My Sausage?' as his mustsee event this Saturday afternoon.

The West End Festival will see more than 400 events ranging from live music to art exhibitions held over two weeks at 45 venues.

Organisers expect to top the 50,000 visitors it attracted to the festival last year, making it Glasgow's biggest cultural event.

The festival ends on June 29.