Up to 1,500 people braved the bad weather on Saturday to be part of the first A1 Festival of Light.
Fortunately it didn't rain on the parade of 550 people who created a spectacle of lit lanterns and larger than life puppets from Holloway tube station down the A1.
In Highbury Fields the children deposited their lamps in the children's playground area making it into a magical lantern garden before they took their turn on the ice-skating rink set up for the first time in Highbury Fields.
Hannah Khureshi, age 10, from William Tyndall School said she had a great time at the festival. "The lamps were good fun to make and made the garden look very beautiful - I hope they do it again."
Her mother, Mrs Khureshi commented: "This was a nice event for Islington to hold - a fantastic evening for families."
Katie Saentaweesook, from Highgate, said: 'It was great, we joined in the procession on the way. The weather was horrible but it was nice to have something coming into Spring because usually there's nothing at this time of the year at all.'
Musicians from around the world got the slightly sodden crowd dancing including bands from Ethiopia, Turkey, Bulgaria and London.
This project was produced by the Islington Council's A1 Project in collaboration with Metal/DPA and Cultural Co-operation.
The A1 Project aims to transform the area around the A1 making it cleaner, greener and safer.
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Page Last Updated: 29 July 2008