Sun Jiawei/Shanghai Daily news
Korean dancers perform during the
opening parade of 2005 Shanghai Tourism Festival on Huaihai Road on Saturday. ¡ª
Zhang Suoqing
More than 430,000 people lined downtown streets to watch a parade of 23
floats and 30 performing groups on Saturday.
The parade along Huaihai Road
marked the opening of the 2005 Shanghai Tourism Festival.
"As a native
Shanghainese, I want to be on the spot and feel the festive atmosphere, although
I've missed the event many times," said Xi Dong.
"The floats are excellent,
especially the lighting," said Christ Mullard, chair of London's Notting Hill
Carnival, one of the judges of the floats.
Mullard did say that designers
should consider enlarging the size of floats for future parades to give them
more space to express their ideas.
More importantly, Mullard said that the
event organizer can do more to increase local participation by allowing people
to ride on the floats, or taste delicious foods brought by people from all over
the world at stands along the street.
Nanjing Road E. also had a carnival on
Saturday night to celebrate the opening of the festival.
The festival will
wrap up on October 6 at Century Park.
