PICTURE GALLERY: Burning the Clocks 2016

Brighton and Hove saw off the shortest day of the year with its annual Burning the Clocks parade on Wednesday evening (December 21).
Burning the Clocks 2016 (Photograph: Ray Gibson)Burning the Clocks 2016 (Photograph: Ray Gibson)
Burning the Clocks 2016 (Photograph: Ray Gibson)

The Winter Solstice event has been a tradition in the city for more than two decades and tens of thousands of people turned out to view the spectacle and mark the year’s end.

Around 2,000 people carried handmade paper and wicker lanterns through the city, starting at New Road, walking through the Lanes and ending up at the beach on Madeira Drive.

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Clocks, as always, were a common lantern theme, but there was also a giant teapot, an orange rocket and a towering wicker man.

Burning the Clocks 2016 (Photograph: Ray Gibson)Burning the Clocks 2016 (Photograph: Ray Gibson)
Burning the Clocks 2016 (Photograph: Ray Gibson)

The parade also included dancers, drummers and brass bands, giving the procession a carnival atmosphere.

At the end of the route, the lanterns were thrown onto the enormous bonfire at the seafront and spectators enjoyed fireworks to end the celebrations.

This year residents were given the opportunity to carry ‘in memoriam’ lanterns, to remember lost loved ones. The names of 25 people who passed away in 2016 were read out on the beach.

There was an after-party at Patterns, raising funds to put on the event, which is run by Brighton charity Same Sky.

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