Saturday 2 May 2026
Forty Years of Brighton Children’s Parade
This year we have reached 40 years of creative celebration on the streets of Brighton with the Children’s Parade – What an achievement! We are going to be doing some things differently this year as well as celebrating these milestones – so hold on to your hats and read carefully below.
What’s New
Each participant group/school will have a single dedicated Same Sky artist guiding the process from Launch to Parade Day, extending the support Same Sky provides.
More time with that dedicated Same Sky artist in person and via email during the “surgeries” (one to one design sessions) and “mas -camps” (group making sessions)
Each school/group will receive a visit from their Same Sky artist to work with their children. An opportunity for children to meet a professional artist and be taught by them.
Invitation to participate:
Schools and children’s groups will be invited to apply to enter the 2026 parade and the 2027 parade.
You will be guaranteed a place in at least one of these years, and could be offered a place in both years.
We will invite each school and group with same frequency to participate over a five-year period.
We know that many schools and groups already have a Children’s Parade participation system of one year on one year off so this new system will fit you easily.
If you are a school/group where it’s important to have all children experience the parade once during their life at your school/group, and we can’t offer you a place for one year – we can offer you some flexibility on numbers instead. Please consider the financial and time implications for your group before you follow this route.
A two-part application process:
Please state on the initial application form if you have any preference to participate in either 2026 or 2027, we will do our best to accommodate this.
The deadline for this first stage of the application is September 19th
We will inform you of your year placement by September 26th
If you are invited to join the 2026 parade, it’s at this point that we will request more information from you – particularly your request for numbers of participants.
We will confirm your requested numbers before the Launch Date of the Parade: 4th November hosted by the Festival at the Dome Foyer, where the theme for this year will be revealed and you will meet your Same Sky artist.
The timeline:
Friday 19 September – Deadline for application
Friday 26 September – Decision on application
Friday 17 October – Deadline for further details for schools participating in 2026 Parade
Friday 24 October – Invitation to Children’s Parade Launch sent to participating schools
Tuesday 4 November – Brighton Children’s Parade 2026 Launch event at Brighton Dome
The Application
Complete this application form here as soon as possible. Apply for both years to be guaranteed a place in the parade either in 2026 or 2027