Thousands thronged the streets of Kilkenny to witness an aquatic-themed display during the Kilkenny Arts Festival parade at the weekend.
The Marble City was flooded with sound and spectacle on Saturday when Callan-based Kilkenny Collective for Arts Talent and the Galway theatre group Macnas wound their way from Granges Road through the medieval High Street, finishing at the grounds of Kilkenny Castle.
Inspired by a Callan legend, in which a king is said to have lost his life while saving a servant from drowning, the parade witnessed a regal procession of courtiers and jugglers and a submerged world of rolling white horses, dancing sea urchins, menacing red crabs, and iridescent fish - and some more grubbily realistic floats.
"It's all to do with pollution of the environment," said Kilkenny local Patricia McGrath, as an enormous shopping trolley drifted past filled with rumbling percussionists and pursued by a group of hermit crabs in traffic-cone shells.
An enormous sea dragon swooped down Parliament Street, aided by nine puppeteers, before facing off with local shopkeeper Michael Conroy. Conroy, however, held his ground.
"It's the best parade we've ever seen in Kilkenny," he said.
The Big River had been in development for over a year, according to John Ashton, general manager Macnas. "We're using 130 local participants from the Kilkenny and Callan area and 100 participants came down from Galway."
The parade made its debut during the Galway Arts Festival last month, but the journey through Kilkenny city and Callan represented its homecoming.
Festival ceo Geraldine Tierney said yesterday: "The King's River in Callan actually is the 'Big River'. This is where the parade started."
Organisers expect 80,000 people to visit Kilkenny during the 10-day interdisciplinary arts event, generating up to €8 million for the local economy.