Brighton Festival and Festival Fringe got off to a flying start, with thousands of visitors flocking to the city for the opening weekend.

People lined the streets to see more than 4,500 children from 70 schools and community groups take part in the annual children’s parade.

The 25th parade had the theme Earth and youngsters dressed up to represent polar, temperate, tropical and desert regions.

A number of performances also took place, including Apollo: This Is For All Mankind, the first of guest artistic director Brian Eno’s festival pieces.

Andrew Comben, chief executive of Brighton Dome and Festival, said: “We’ve had a terrific opening weekend – audiences were delighted at This Is For All Mankind when Brian Eno surprised everyone by singing an unprogrammed set of his own songs at the end.

“Howard Goodall’s The Selfish Giant had a very well-received world premiere on Saturday afternoon to a packed family audience and the weather just held out for the children’s parade.

“We’re all really looking forward to the next 20 days and the wonderful events we have in store.”

Meanwhile, more than 10,000 people attended Fringe City, which offered people a taster of some of the shows on offer.

Two stages in New Road saw performances by acts including Fire Tusk Pain Proof Circus, And The Devil May Drag You Under and Lynn Ruth Miller.

Nick Stockman, executive manager of the Fringe, said: “I have never enjoyed a fringe opening day more and I think the 10,000 or so people who attended Fringe City on Saturday would agree with me. It was a great start to the festival.”