A hundred-foot long serpent terrorised crowds in Bradford City Centre - luckily, it was filled with helium and was one of the stars of the Lord Mayor's Carnival Parade.

The city went carnival crazy on Saturday with a cacophony of drumming, whistling, music, dancing and flamboyant costumes.

The public turned out in their thousands to wave on the foot-stomping parade made up of about 30 community groups and schools as well as professional artistes.

This was just the latest element of a frenzied week of colourful street theatre, music and dancing expected to attract thousands to the Bradford International Festival.

Enormous flying fish and a serpent snaked their way round the tops of buildings and swooped down on the shrieking crowds, threatening to eat them whole!

They were controlled by French artists Plasticiens Volantes dressed in Medieval tunics.

The parade was headed by participants wearing eye-searing fluorescent outfits.

Issy Lee, ten, of Haworth, had dyed her hair different colours and wore a pink costume she made herself from bubble wrap and material.

She said: "I joined in last year and that was good too."

Children and adults from across Bradford were dressed in fantastic creations ranging from a glittering ice maiden, to exotic sea creatures, venus fly traps, giraffes, even lampshades.

Characters from Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on stilts, a stunning blue fish and kids asleep in pushchairs all merged into the bright, noisy spectacle which left the streets of Bradford throbbing.

Spectator Margaret Houseago, of Queensbury, said: "I have never seen anything like this before and I am really impressed. The costumes are brilliant especially if they have made them all themselves."

Halfway through the parade, the Dhol Blasters, a Sikh drumming troupe from Birmingham dressed in traditional costumes and plumage, and some performers from Bradford's Guru Nanak Gurdwara joined in, followed by the Plasticiens Volantes. It was impossible to stand still with the beats from drums, sound systems and whistles thundering out.

Zakiyya Khalifa, five, of Heaton, was enjoying the parade. She said: "I like the big giraffes and the people on stilts, it is all very colourful."

Bradford Action for Refugees group was dressed as black and white musical characters. They included refugees from Afghanistan and Iran.

At the rear of the procession, a 40-ft blood-sucking leech from theatre company IOU in Halifax crept round the route with its keepers baying for blood to feed it with.

Firefighter Ian Gobbi watched his son Andrew, eight, pass by dressed as a sea creature.

He said: "It seems a bit smaller this year but it is very colourful and noisy."

The fun continued in Centenary Square until late with bands playing, whacky street artists and fairground rides. Variety was the key to the festival with events and attractions to please most people, some outside the city centre.

Rare breeds of cattle, sheep and goats delighted visitors at the Bradford City Farm on Walker Drive who could go on tours looking at its wildlife, plants and animals. Strollers took to the countryside for many themed, guided walks including a spooky twilight graveyard tour around Haworth's historic cemetery and tours to uncover Ilkley Moor's UFO mysteries.

For the sedate tourist, there was the chance to enjoy a lazy journey through Bingley Five Rise Locks on a canal boat. For the more energetic, a cycling tour was organised on Sunday by the Women's Cycling Group around Saltaire. Bradford's high-energy acrobats Skinning the Cat flew gracefully across the sky above Exchange Court in a dazzling piece of aerial theatre called Rubicon.This was followed by the English premiere of Polish theatre company Teatr Osmego Dnia's The Ark. The festival continues all week culminating in this weekend's two-day Mela.

Pictured is a giant fish which led the parade's water section.