Circus performers win prize

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Nobody rained on Albert & Friends' Parade

A Riverside Studios based circus troupe scooped third prize in a New Year’s Day parade in London.

 

The Albert & Friends Instant Circus entry won £5,000 after putting together a Creature Costume themed performance for the parade, heading off competition from thousands of other performers from across the globe.

 

The Mayor of Hammersmith and Fulham, Andrew Johnson, will now distribute the prize money to his favourite local charities.

Performers from Albert & Friends Instant Circus wore costumes featuring luminous creature heads and brightly coloured outfits. The 35 strong troupe strode through the streets of London on 5ft high stilts and whizzed around on unicycles.

Parents and volunteers joined in the fun by dressing in crazy costumes too collecting donations along the 2.2 mile route.

In crisp bright and dry weather Albert & Friends joined thousands of other performers, dancers & marching bands from across the world. The whole parade was televised and carried live on CNN

For Ian Scott Owens and his wife Petrea from Albert & Friends Instant Circus, the parade was the culmination of their silver jubilee celebrations.

Bob Bone, the parade's executive director, said: "It's certainly the biggest crowd we have ever had."

He added: "It's a great 'shop window' event for the capital - it's shown live on something like 750 television stations around the world."

January 11, 2009