Hackney optician leading the borough in the New Year’s Parade

Hackney will star in London’s spectacular New Year’s Day Parade for the first time in more than 20 years, thanks to a Stoke Newington optician.

Garry Kousoulou of Askew Opticians is on a mission to showcase the borough’s talent and raise awareness of eye health and is leading the charge with Hackney’s float.

He’s lined up a Kiss FM DJ and hopes to have around 100 Hackney citizens marching behind the float (which has been donated by Centre Transport) with eye test charts in different languages.  Behind them he hopes there’ll be visually impaired residents and their guide dogs and behind them, war veterans.

He said: “I’ve fallen in love with Hackney – it’s a wonderful place. It’s a real shame we haven’t had a presence in the parade for over two decades. This is a chance to celebrate this amazing place, raise awareness of eye health and hopefully win some money for charity.”

The winning borough will bag £15,000 for the charity selected by their mayor or speaker. In Hackney, the Speaker’s charities are Hackney Foodbank, The Pedro Club and Hackney Marsh Partnership. Every borough taking part will receive £2,000 for their chosen good causes.

Garry added: “There’ll be judges all along the route, which runs from Green Park to Westminster.  This year there’s an emphasis on being carbon neutral – we’ll work out what our footprint is and will plant twice as many trees!  I’m determined to win!”

More than 500,000 people will line the 2.5-mile route for the extravaganza, which includes music, dance groups, marching bands. It’s Garry’s second time at the parade – he previously organised Enfield’s float.

The London Parade 2026 marks the event’s 40^th anniversary. It will feature more than 8,000 performers. Eurovision star and BRIT-nominated singer Sam Ryder is among the artists performing.

To find out more, visit: https://londonparade.com