PERFECT summer weather brought out the crowds to two major events in Ipswich.A sea of colour came to town as the first Ipswich Community Carnival took to the streets.

PERFECT summer weather brought out the crowds to two major events in Ipswich.

A sea of colour came to town as the first Ipswich Community Carnival took to the streets.

And yesterday people turned out to mark the centenary of public transport in the town at a special open day organised by Ipswich Buses.

There was a nautical theme as dozens of young carnival-goers wore wire framed models of ships, boats and other sea creatures in a colourful procession through town, starting at Cromwell Square on Saturday.

They were joined by people on stilts and Morris Dancers and winded their way through central Ipswich to a chorus of whistles and beating drums.

Many of the youngsters involved in the carnival procession had attended special workshops over the last few months at Ipswich Corn Exchange learning how to dance, make music and sculpture models.

The theme of the event was the history of Ipswich over the last 800 years and the carnival procession made its way through the town centre to the Cornhill where the Suffolk School of Samba brought the event to a colourful close.

A century of public transport in Ipswich was celebrated at the Portman Road practice pitch with an open day yesterday.

The event was held close to Ipswich Buses Constantine Road depot and those celebrating the landmark were treated to two tours around Ipswich

An opened top bus took visitors on a trip over the Orwell Bridge down to the Ipswich Transport Museum on Cobham Road where some classic examples of public transport stretching back to the start of the 20th century are permanently on display.

Back at the training pitch at Portman Road children watched clowns and jugglers on trampolines and there was a bird-of-prey handler allowing children to get a close-up look at eagles and falcons.