A giant camel and pharaoh will be among the weird and wonderful sights on the streets for Europe's biggest free gay pride carnival.

Volunteers from The Argus have spent weeks building Egyptian characters to decorate their float for this year's Brighton and Hove Pride parade.

The theme for the event on Saturday, August 5, is Carry On, with The Argus choosing Carry On Cleo. Lacey Bulled, of the Press Gang, will ride on the float in luxury, being fanned by a slave. She will be accompanied by Marc Anthony and Caesar, with a group of slaves walking alongside the vehicle.

Other floats will be decorated as Carry On Camping, with tents and grass, Carry On Up The Khyber, with mountains and a banquet, and Carry On Loving, which will be covered in hearts.

The Pride team has chosen the theme of Carry On Columbus, with its float transformed into a giant galleon.

Pride is the city's biggest carnival, attracting about 100,000 people every year. Setting off at 8am, the parade will travel along Madeira Drive, West Street, North Street and Marlborough Place towards Preston Park for the party from noon to 8pm.

It will be led by the police, who always attract big cheers from the crowd.

Community arts organisation Same Sky, of College Road, Kemp Town, Brighton, has been working with 11 organisations building floats.

The group helps design costumes and props for events in Brighton, including the Children's Parade and the Burning of the Clocks.

Project manager Sharon Mee said: "People are doing really well. We have been involved for the last three years. We set up a master class for people to come and spend three or four hours doing their designs and we run workshops.

"They really get stuck in. A lot of groups have come back year after year so their skills have got better. It is definitely going to be the best parade we have seen."

Michael Beard, editor of The Argus, said: "We are delighted to support the biggest parade of the year, not just with our extensive coverage but also by taking part. Like a lot of others, a huge amount of work has gone into our float and we hope people will enjoy it."

Marketing manager Pam Birkby said the newspaper's float would have pyramids and a mummy.

She said: "It is the second year we have had one. We are doing it because The Argus is proud to support Pride. We had a great response last year."

Pride operations manager P.J. Aldred said the team was grateful for funding from the Arts Council, which had made the Same Sky workshops possible. She said the number of floats had been capped at 55 to keep standards high and those taking part were being encouraged to be as flamboyant as possible.