Despite constant heavy rain, Toryglen turned tropical to parade in style from the Geoff Shaw Centre to the Community Hall on the other side of Prospecthill Road on Saturday August 11.

But they waited for more than half an hour in the pouring rain and had re-assembled inside again, before the police escort arrived to lead them safely along the route.

‘Other operational commitments,’ was the official reason the police didn’t arrive at the scheduled time. The force had to manage two major marches and a Rangers game at Ibrox that same day.

Organised by the Integration Network team, the event brought an unexpected dash of colour to Toryglen. Many local groups, summer holiday clubs, after-school care clubs and nurseries, had spent their days making amazing costumes with tropical themes. The guidance of professionals, Mas Productions and Carnival Arts was evident as was strong support from Asda, Toryglen.

But because of the long delay waiting on the police escort, the ‘A Boys’ band had to leave without playing a note as they had another gig booked.

There was still good music, however, The samba band – kids from King’s Park and Queen’s Park who had had five weeks to rehearse and had made their instruments out of pots and pans and other recycled things, kept their bit of the procession marching along. ‘They were really good,’ said leader Nicola Kendall.

The Gaita Vadia, a band of wandering pipers from Lochwinnoch, brought a lively Galician sound and a celtic touch to the event.

Local resident Maud Mills who watched the procession said, ‘This is one of the best displays yet. Everyone has put in a lot of work to make this happen. But I think it is out of order the police were not here at the right time. It was a shame for the kids to wait so long in the rain.’

Councillor Jahangir Hanif was the only one of the four Councillors from Southside Central ward to be there on the day. He said, ‘This has been an amazing, colourful event. People have put a tremendous effort into the day. It is a pity about the rain, but everyone has enjoyed themselves and it shows their pride in the Toryglen community.’

The missing Councillors were Anne Marie Millar who was unable to get childcare, James Scanlon who was on holiday in Blackpool and Danny Alderslowe who had two other civic events that morning.