POLE POSITION: Thousands of people ignored the rain and mist to attend Scotland's largest ever Easter Festival in Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh, yesterday.

The final day of the two-day extravaganza started with a cavalcade along Princes Street featuring more than 4000 performers. The Donna Maria Maypole Dancers were joined by a dozen American marching bands, cheerleaders, pipe bands, jazz bands, acrobats and Latino salsa dancers. For children, the most popular event was the Easter egg hunt, described by organisers as the "biggest free Easter egg hunt in the world". About 20,000 Swiss chocolate eggs were hidden in the gardens.