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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-02-26
CONTENTS
[01] Unfazed by rain, revelers dress up and dance at Patras' grand
Carnival Parade
[01] Unfazed by rain, revelers dress up and dance at Patras' grand
Carnival Parade
Thousands of visitors and Carnival crews ignored the rain and enjoyed
dancing and singing at the main parade on Sunday afternoon in the center
of Patras, where the annual event has been held for the past 180 years.
The parade was opened by King Carnival, who traditionally represents
the figure of a wealthy man, symbolizing capitalism and the country's
economic crisis. He is followed by the Carnival Queen with her entourage
and the 29 colourful and imaginative floats named "Poseidon's Chariot",
"Pirate Ship", "Suddenly a Parrot" and "Musical Float", which were built
in the municipal carnival workshop.
As the number of participants has been steadily increasing in the past few
years, the parade takes hours to conclude. This year it brought more than
30,000 people into the streets of the western port city. Celebrations in
Patra start weeks in advance and include balls, parades, hidden treasure
hunt and the children's carnival. The tail of the parade includes the
"chocolate war" floats, made up of various crews with costumes relating
to the theme, who will be throwing chocolate to the people watching.
The parade will conclude at 21:00 at the docks of Aghios Nikolaos, where
city mayor Kostas Peletidis will announce the end of the main event, amid
a flurry of latin and disco music. It will be followed by the traditional
burning of King Carnival and a fireworks display. Celebrations will
continue with a concert by "Boney M" and Maizie Williams will sing for
the last party of the Carnival season.
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