GIANT sea snails, dinosaurs, fish and octopuses will take over the sea front as hundreds of schoolchildren perform as part of the Moving Tides procession.

Dancers and musicians will be working their way along the Esplanade on Sunday from 4.45pm.

The procession had to be called off during the Olympic Torch relay festivities earlier in the summer after rain threatened proceedings and would have made a ‘soggy mess’ of the hundreds of handcrafted papier-mâché costumes and sculptures.

However, organisers said they will be back with a bang for the closing weekend of the Paralympic Games and are hoping that thousands of people will turn out to support them.

Assistant operations manager Emma Kimber said she had been disappointed when it was called off but said: “There’s no way we could have taken the risk. So many of the masks and puppets were papier-mâché and it would have been a soggy mess.”

Hundreds of school children dressed as sea creatures from the Jurassic Coast and beyond will start at Weymouth College at 4pm on Sunday and process through Greenhill Gardens and down to Pier Bandstand.

The best viewing for spectators will be along the Esplanade from 4.45pm when a host of sea snails, angler fish, sea turtles, a velociraptor, purple squid and even Neptune himself will move down the Esplanade to the sound of the Moving Tides junk instruments.

Mrs Kimber said that it was a great occasion for the children to be involved in and that the teachers had been working very hard to get everyone organised in time for this weekend.

She said: “It’s a great opportunity for the children to be part of the Paralympics. Fingers crossed for no rain, because the disappointment factor would be so high.

“It’s very exciting and everyone is looking forward to it. It’s a big project to organise and it’s all coming into line this week really.

“I’m looking forward to the end result.”

Due to the event in July having to be cancelled some of the children have now moved on to secondary school and they will be rejoining their old schools and classmates for the event. Teachers have been busy making sure everyone has permission forms.

Mrs Kimber said that people should look out for the giant puppets including Neptune as well as the children playing drums made out of junk.

She said: “All the children will be using recycled junk instruments.

“There should be some really big Jurassic Coast puppets there as well.”

  • The closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games in London will be shown in Weymouth on Sunday.

Residents will be able to enjoy the ceremony from the ICCI 360 Dome and Weymouth Pavilion from 7.30pm.