Luton Carnival - History

History

The first carnival in Luton was in 1976 on a far much smaller scale than today, as a modest Victorian street fair as part of the Borough Council's centenary celebrations. The carnival developed and evolved over the years and in 1998 the Luton Carnival acquired 'international status', receiving the largest single lottery award for carnival development.

In 2000, to mark the beginning of the new millennium, Luton celebrated with an expanded three-day event with more than 140,000 revelers taking to the streets for the massive international event.

Luton International Carnival is organised by Luton Borough Council Arts Development Unit in partnership with the Luton Carnival Arts Development Trust. The Carnival is sponsored by Bedfordshire Newspapers (Luton Herald and Post and The Luton News) and by local radio stations BBC Three Counties Radio and 97.6 Chiltern FM.

The 2007 carnival, which was due to take place on Bank Holiday Monday 28 May, was cancelled due to unforeseen, adverse weather conditions. Major flooding, following 24 hours of heavy rain, meant New Bedford Road was impassible, and the River Lea burst its banks, causing Wardown Park (where the main celebrations are held) waterlogged. In addition, continuing high winds meant that stages and other temporary structures were unable to be erected due to safety concerns. This was the first time that the carnival had been called off in history.

To coincide with the 2012 Love Luton festival (6–9 July) the international carnival was pushed forward for a later date of 8 July 2012, to join together to form the weekend- festival alongside other annual events such as the Luton Mela, Luton Summer Festival, the Stockwood concerts, and the Festival Concerts, with headlining acts being The Wanted and Olly Murs, and other acts including Skepta and Mz. Bratt. The 2012 carnival is set to have over 1500 people will participate in the parade which features 37 different groups, 11 sound systems, masquerade groups, sound trucks, samba troupes, DJs and stilt walkers, all creating an eye catching and dazzling procession, demonstrating the diverse mix of arts, music and culture of Luton. A key feature of the parade will be Carnival Crossroads Eastbound, an Arts Council funded project led by UK Centre for Carnival Art’s Creative Director, and will consist of 100 local community participants from each town to create one spectacular 500-participant central Brazilian-style float, and will consist of 100 local community participants from each town to create one spectacular 500-participant central Brazilian-style float.

The Luton Carnival is the second largest in the UK, with the annual Notting Hill Carnival, a two day festival in London that attracts around a million people.