Today was the day of the Leith Carnival; a procession down Lochend Road and into Leith Links before a day of celebration of all things Leith. The carnival included a fairground, live music and acts on a stage, lots of market stalls, and a “chill-out” area.
I passed the event as I was setting up while taking Laura to her dance school in the morning, and already the sun was shining warm with not a cloud to be seen. I never went to the procession, though, and once Gail left for the Ladies Day at Musselburgh Race Course, I went along for about 1.30pm (after a lot of tidying, cleaning, washing in the house) in order to watch Laura perform in front of the main stage with her country dancing troop.
She was magnificent, doing her stuff in front of hundreds of people including the Lord Provost for Leith, and the local MP and MSP. Afterwards she went off with her pals and cousin to spend time in the fairground, while I wandered around taking photos and chatting to a few people. Some of the stalls were a bit pathetic but the odd one or two had something interesting to look at, mainly the local Leith Historical Society and some arts and crafts stalls.
The Leith Carnival has been lucky over the past 6 or 7 years in that it always seems to get fabulous sunshine. It was a roasting hot day, but with a lot of work to do in the house and also for my business, I left Laura with her pal and uncle (with strict instructions) and headed the short distance home.
On my way back through the carnival I walked behind the main stage and took the picture you can see above, and then further on walked through the “chill out” area. It was full of a couple of hundred people dancing to Bob Marley over massive speakers; most of them pissed, all of them doped up. The stench of grass was reeking (and I’m not talking about the freshly mown stuff), but it looked quite placid and friendly with no sign of any trouble. Even the local coppers, who were keeping any eye from a short distance away, seemed to be letting and let live, which for once, I thought was a pretty good approach.
Back home I did more work around the house and on the computer. I was quite glad to get out of the sun by then so I wasn’t too bothered. I could have stayed with Gail’s brother and partner for a drink in the Links, but I wasn’t really up for it.
Laura showed up dead on time, and when Gail arrived back from the races (2 winners from 7 races and £5 in the black) she went back out to visit her brother taking Laura with her. This meant I could finish the work I needed to do in peace and watch a film with my dinner.
It was more of a productive day than it actually sounds, but the good things is my leg hasn’t bothered me much at all throughout everything.
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About Colin Galbraith
Keen runner, thriller author, Madness fan, Mets fan, St Mirren fan/owner, rabbit tamer, outstanding fake faller. Loves cannolis & espressos. #LFGM
Freedom from the Mundane 
The Leith Carnival
I passed the event as I was setting up while taking Laura to her dance school in the morning, and already the sun was shining warm with not a cloud to be seen. I never went to the procession, though, and once Gail left for the Ladies Day at Musselburgh Race Course, I went along for about 1.30pm (after a lot of tidying, cleaning, washing in the house) in order to watch Laura perform in front of the main stage with her country dancing troop.
She was magnificent, doing her stuff in front of hundreds of people including the Lord Provost for Leith, and the local MP and MSP. Afterwards she went off with her pals and cousin to spend time in the fairground, while I wandered around taking photos and chatting to a few people. Some of the stalls were a bit pathetic but the odd one or two had something interesting to look at, mainly the local Leith Historical Society and some arts and crafts stalls.
The Leith Carnival has been lucky over the past 6 or 7 years in that it always seems to get fabulous sunshine. It was a roasting hot day, but with a lot of work to do in the house and also for my business, I left Laura with her pal and uncle (with strict instructions) and headed the short distance home.
On my way back through the carnival I walked behind the main stage and took the picture you can see above, and then further on walked through the “chill out” area. It was full of a couple of hundred people dancing to Bob Marley over massive speakers; most of them pissed, all of them doped up. The stench of grass was reeking (and I’m not talking about the freshly mown stuff), but it looked quite placid and friendly with no sign of any trouble. Even the local coppers, who were keeping any eye from a short distance away, seemed to be letting and let live, which for once, I thought was a pretty good approach.
Back home I did more work around the house and on the computer. I was quite glad to get out of the sun by then so I wasn’t too bothered. I could have stayed with Gail’s brother and partner for a drink in the Links, but I wasn’t really up for it.
Laura showed up dead on time, and when Gail arrived back from the races (2 winners from 7 races and £5 in the black) she went back out to visit her brother taking Laura with her. This meant I could finish the work I needed to do in peace and watch a film with my dinner.
It was more of a productive day than it actually sounds, but the good things is my leg hasn’t bothered me much at all throughout everything.
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About Colin Galbraith
Keen runner, thriller author, Madness fan, Mets fan, St Mirren fan/owner, rabbit tamer, outstanding fake faller. Loves cannolis & espressos. #LFGM