When Hollywood came to Worthing!

Worthing Parade 2026: photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex.

Time for some superhero action!

As we headed for the grassy event area at Steyne Gardens we were greeted by a wealth of super hero characters, villains and a wealth of other characters.

Costumes that had survived battles with Sith Lords, Decepticons, wizards and intergalactic villains had faced their greatest enemy of all: British weather. But now the clouds parted and the sun was back at full strength, allowing everyone to dry off.

Worthing Parade 2026: photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex.

This is a page for some extra photos from the parade and later gathering of your favourite film characters in Steyne Gardens. I want to thank the guys who allowed me to grab a selfie and the odd photo, yeah I know!

Transformers Optimus Prime had rolled into town, bringing enough metal, machinery and general automotive mayhem to make the local car dealership look positively under-equipped.

Worthing Parade 2026: photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex.

Firstly “Thanks all”, my camera had got wet in the rain and was playing up, this resulted in the characters holding their position until my camera came back to life. Your patience was greatly appreciated!

From one fantasy world to another came the instantly recognisable characters from Toy Story. Woody, Buzz Light Year and friends appeared to be enjoying themselves!

Great to see so many realistic outfits. The Cosplay tent had a lot of items for sale. A great selection and seemed to be pretty busy! They seemed to be doing a roaring trade on memorabilia and various items, which was good to see. These guys do so much for charity.

Worthing Parade 2026: photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex.

And just when everyone thought things couldn’t get any more bizarre, along came Deadpool. Quite why Deadpool was allowed anywhere near a family parade remains one of life’s great mysteries, but nobody seemed particularly keen to ask him. Probably wise. The kids loved him!

Chatted with the red storm trooper, with the sporting logo on. We had chatted about the parade, and how he, and a few others, had problems with the rain leaking into outfits. Some of the outfits have electrics, some got fried others lost their battery packs as the water loosened up the tape holding them in place.

Along came Captain Jack Sparrow. Complete with pirate swagger and a glass of something, he looked entirely at home. Whether he was searching for treasure, rum, or simply trying to remember where he’d parked the Black Pearl was anyone’s guess. Thanks for the photo Captain!

Children stared wide-eyed at their favourite characters. Adults suddenly became children again, reaching for phones and cameras as familiar faces from the big screen came into view amongst the stalls and crowds. There was laughter, cheering, waving and plenty of people trying to capture the perfect photograph. It was odd to be at the end of the Winter Soldiers gun as he took aim!

Huge thanks to Slimer for sitting still for the photo and not vanishing off to cause havoc somewhere else or devour the tasty snacks on offer! Also very happy to get through the day without being stood on by Optimus Prime, or get into a drinking competition with Cap’n Jack Sparrow!

Great to see this character again, the punk trooper. I said hi and noted that after taking his photo for three years, I wouldn’t know him if he sat next to me on the bus! Off came the helmet and we chatted about the event and how much fun it was. We both agreed it is wonderful to see the youngsters meeting their heroes. And so time for the now yearly photo, helmet placed back over his head and “click”.

CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE

The Worthing Rotary Carnival is the pinnacle of summer events in Worthing, the biggest free to attend charity event and it was back for 2026!! The free to attend Carnival is organised by volunteers from Worthing Rotary Club and it’s supporting clubs, for over 100 years. Thousands visit this multi-location event consisting of a Fun Fair, Market, Stalls, Music, Food & Drink, Entertainment and the Parade itself.

CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE

Great to see so many new characters this year, thanks to The Flash for keeping still and The Green Lantern for waiting for my camera to sort itself out! I did try to get everyone who was out with the crowds, sorry if I missed you!

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE PROCESSION PHOTOS – Lets do this!

This event has been running since 1921! Long may it continue! Thank you to the Worthing branch of Rotary for a wonderful day out for so many people.

You can visit Rotary on the WWW – The Worthing page here. The group have a FaceBook page here, check out what is coming up in our area or volunteer! There is also a Rotary Carnival page here!

The cosplay characters were provided by Cosplay Allstars who were fund raising directly with the Worthing Rotary club. This year saw many characters coming from as far as Wales, Lincolnshire, London, Hertfordshire, Kent and Essex. Thanks to Mr No Stripe, the founder – they have a web site here.

And Finally…

Thanks to Rotary Worthing! Also thanks to the brilliant Cosplay Allstars.

Words, Videos and Photos for Scene Sussex by Ian “The Lens” Bourn. No AI or filters used, it’s pure and straight down “the lens”!

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Please note all original images / video are copyright, please do not copy. If any of the featured artists/promoters/venues want copies of the images – or more if available – please just get in touch.

All original pictures / video – copyright to IANB/MEDIA WORKS/ SCENE SUSSEX – Ian “The Lens” Bourn 2026.

Got an event coming up? Need some gig photography, promo shots, previews or reviews? – please get in touch! See you down the front – come and say “hi!”