Carnival parade attracted a record number of participants

COLOURFUL carnival parades and a toy exhibition helped keep people's minds off the weather on Sunday. There was a record turn out of 300 children at the Marineland fancy dress parade, and the judges had a hard time selecting the winners of the 30 prizes. Eventually, they decided that the first prize, a trip for three persons courtesy of Soltour, should go to Noelia Rojas Molla, who went as a Crystal Fantasy. Second prize went to Sleepyhead, and third to Explorer in a Cage. The prize for the best group went to Grease, and Pau Sanz took the prize for the youngest participant. In Marratxi, some of the floats had a hard time negotiating the steep, narrow streets, but that did not put a damper on spirits. One of the floats, which took fourth prize, referred to the Prestige oil spill in Galicia. The first prize went to the Serpentinas bailadoras. But while Marineland and Marratxi attracted more participants than ever, there were fewer at Tito's for the event in aid of Aspanob, the association of parents of children with cancer, probably because it coincided with the Real Mallorca soccer match. Even so, 70 children took part in the fund raising event. Puerto Portals staged what looks like becoming an annual event, its first exhibition-competition for old toys. It was like a stroll down nostalgia lane, with 70 toys on show, including one from the pre-Columbus era and others from the 19th century. The prize for the oldest toy went to José Antonio Sira for a tricycle from 1898. The best doll was from the 1930s, and belonged to Concepción Garcias and the best foreign toy was a train from the 1920s belonging to Antoni Barceló. The exhibition was organised with the collaboration of the Toy Museum in Sa Pobla.