17: Autumn Festival Parade

Arrowtown turned on the weather for the start of the Autumn Festival and people flocked to the main street to see the markets, the local entertainment and the street parade.

The Queenstown Ukulele Orchestra were a huge hit performing on Buckingham Green. You may recognise the Mischievous Minx among their number.

The Wee Red Hen here is also our musical director for Cribbies. We are very lucky to have her, and even more so as she is extremely busy juggling all her commitments.

Celtic Sounds also performed their blend of pipes and ballads on Buckingham Green. Yep, that's the Wee Red Hen again, and also Carolyn Crum, our leading lady in Cribbies. It's a busy time to be a performer...

Now I know this is wrong, but this picture reminds me of that scene in The Young Ones when they're on University Challenge - you know the one: "I'm going to have to wee on Lord Snot's head".

What's the collective term for bagpipers? For some reason, I think it should be a snaggle, or maybe a banshee.

The entertainment was all very good, and then just before the parade of floats, we were treated to the sight of glorious vintage cars driving down the main street - young lads were on their hands on knees to get a better look and only one stalled, mentioning no names of local real estate agents...

And then the pipers led the parade - him in the front there is Mark Owen, who was our piper for Cribbies.
 

This is the Hogwarts float, which I thought was very good (although Harry Potter was minus his lightning bolt scar and glasses, so perhaps it wasn't actually him after all) even if I don't know what it was representing.

The folk from the Remarkable Sweet Shop barely need an excuse to get decked out in fancy dress.

These colourful creatures were on the Where the Wild Things Are float - apparently they are in Arrowtown, as are kids on unicycles, Bob the Builder, Kate and Wills, David Clarke (of the Lakes District Museum), and some other scary-looking dude.

The Miners' Band continue to fiddle away while the Buckingham Belles show the crowd their knickers. And the crowd, it must be said, seem to love it!
 

Here is a child disguised (somewhat unconvincingly and not particularly happily either) as a tomato. There's something rotten in the state of Otago...


Something tells me that these lads from the Arrowtown Rugby Club don't practice their ball skills nearly as much as their haka.

This is the captain of The Earnslaw, supposedly, whose passenger list includes a witch and a girl in a mobcap. They are followed by the Fresh Fish Brothers with dubious looking piscine specimens and a shoal of little mermaids.
 

Little Bo Peep is on stilts and unlikely to lose her sheep as it is pronging around on springs.
 

Darth Vader is here, for whatever reason...

And Him Outdoors gets an attractive new haircut as part of the Remarkable Vets Shave for a Cure campaign.

The Arrowtown Entertainers had a float in to promote Cribbies which was starting the next day. As a very kind director, I had given them the day off you see.

And here come the engines - an old fire engine and a steam traction engine. Boys young and old love them. The folks from the Fire Service are keeping a close watch!

Meanwhile, on the other side of shops, the boys are still playing their games...