Thinkmarketing's MD Excited About New Plans For Festival Parade
For thirty-five years the start of Edinburgh's festival season was heralded by an impressive Cavalcade - a procession of bands and floats which gave revellers a taster of performances being held across the city. But last year, following the sudden departure of the Cavalcade's main organiser, the event was dropped.
- (1888PressRelease) February 24, 2012 - This year the Cavalcade is set for an encore after bosses at the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival relented to public opinion and decided to return the event to Princes Street.
"That is fantastic news," said the Managing Director of ThinkMarketing, a marketing firm based in the Scottish capital. "This city loves its festivals, and the Cavalcade was the perfect opening salvo of the amazing run of entertainment, music and comedy that is the Edinburgh festival season."
But there's a twist. The colourful extravaganza, normally held on the first Sunday of the Fringe, will now take place nearly two weeks before the opening night - on July 22nd to be exact, the first Sunday of the jazz festival.
Brian Fallon, chairman of the Jazz and Blues Festival, said in a statement published on Scottish news website thescotsman.com: "We envisage it being a parade led by Harley-Davidsons, and we have a number of bands from the UK, as well as international; street bands and brass bands, as well as samba bands.
"It will not be an Edinburgh jazz festival parade, but a parade to open Edinburgh's summer festivals."
The board of the jazz festival will be chief organisers of the event, with council officials providing assistance.
ThinkMarketing's MD believes the slight changes to the event may be a breath of fresh air; "Apparently the Cavalcade will no longer have the familiar floats which used to carry festival performers. The Harley-Davidsons will be the only vehicles in the parade. It should make for an interesting take on the traditional event."
Previous cavalcades have attracted in excess of 150,000 spectators and so it remains to be seen whether this new approach garner as much attention.
For the last two years the Cavalcade had been held at Holyrood Park due to tram works on Princes Street, so this revamped parade will be its first return to Edinburgh's busiest thoroughfare since 2008. Steve Cardownie, the city's festivals and events champion, said; "I've always felt that the parade was devalued when it left Princes Street . . ." adding that, "there is nothing like seeing the street throbbing with people."
The MD at ThinkMarketing echoed Mr Cardownie's enthusiasm; "I can't tell you how thrilled I am that they're bringing the Cavalcade back. Okay, it's had a facelift and a slight shift in the calendar, but different doesn't always have to mean bad and I feel confident that visitors to the city will be in for a treat if they make their way to Princes Street on July 22nd."
http://www.scotsman.com/edinburgh-evening-news/edinburgh/jazz_festival_chiefs_step_in_to_revive_capital_cavalcade_1_2123369
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