Thousands celebrate Luton Carnival's 50th year

3 hours ago

Alice Cunninghamand

Zoe Applegate

News image — Samba dancer Amber Ogunsanya-William came up from London to take part

Emma Baugh/BBC A woman wearing a carnival outfit complete with a pink wig and multi-coloured headpiece smiles at the camera. She holds a large flag in one of her hands. — Samba dancer Amber Ogunsanya-William came up from London to take part

The streets of Luton came alive with vibrant colour and music as thousands gathered to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the town's carnival.

Luton International Carnival, hosted by the UK Centre for Carnival Arts, started in 1976 and was inspired by African-Caribbean culture.

Sunday's eye-catching parade started at 13:00 BST at Market Hill, wove through the town centre and ended at Wardown Park, where the sun-soaked party went on into the early evening.

Many of the dancers, musicians and community groups were decked out in gold to mark the carnival's golden anniversary. An estimated 15,000 people were at events across the town.

As it happened: Thousands celebrate Luton Carnival's 50th anniversary

Toby Friedner/BBC A group of people wearing colourful outfits of red, yellow, and green pose for the camera. Many have their arms out in celebration as they smile. It is a sunny day. — Thousands of people braved the hot temperatures to celebrate Luton Carnival's 50th anniversary

As the parade set off, temperatures soared close to 30C (86F) as parts of England experienced a heatwave.

It was the first time the event had returned to the town's Wardown Park since before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Lily-May Symonds/BBC Women wearing different carnival outfits stand together to pose for a picture. Some of them wear large headpieces complete with feathers and other decorations that tower above them. — Performers dressed to the max ahead of Sunday's parade

Amber Ogunsanya-William had come up specially from London to be the flag bearer for the Paraiso School of Samba.

She said it had been a pleasure to take part.

"Carnival is the most significant event, in my opinion, of the year," she said.

"It holds so much significance and it really does change a life just for the day.

"You forget about your worries, misconceptions and you can just have fun and enjoy each other's company."

Emma Baugh/BBC A group of women stand in a line wearing matching sarees in gold, white and some red. Two girls wearing a blue, yellow red saree crouch in front of them along with a boy wearing a white shirt and traditional headdress. — Blenda Shibu (pictured at the centre of the back row) said it was the second time the Luton Malayali Samajam group had taken part in the carnival

Blenda Shibu, from the Luton Malayali Samajam group, who is originally from Kerala, in India, said the carnival gave her members the chance to "showcase the whole of Indian culture".

The 49-year-old has lived in Luton for 17 years. It was the second time her group had taken part in the parade.

"We are so many miles away from India, but at the same time our culture and traditions are so well rooted that we think we should definitely showcase [them]... we're proud," she said.

Shibu said the children in the group had been "so excited" to take part, and it had been a chance to remind them about India's culture and traditions.

Emma Baugh/BBC Men wearing purple shoulder pads and hats with purple feathers. They are in outfits that make them look like they are riding atop golden horses. — The carnival's theme for 2026 was gold, to tie-in with the 50th anniversary

Lily-May Symonds/BBC A man and a woman stand together to pose for a picture. The man is bald and wears black rimmed glasses and a yellow T-shirt with the words, UK Centre for Carnival Arts on it. He rests one of his hands on his hip. The woman has short black hair and also wears black rimmed glasses along with the same yellow T-shirt with a denim cardigan over the top. — Organisers Steve Pascal and Claudette Whittingham were pleased with the day's celebrations

Steve Pascal, executive producer of the carnival, said Luton was a "very special place" thanks to its diverse community.

"It's very special because its 50 years of carnival, but in fact carnival itself in the borough started off with a hat parade and is a number of hundreds of years old."

Pascal said the event had taken months of planning, but it had been worth it.

"All you have to do is look around. This colour is the personification of carnival."

Emma Baugh/BBC Three stilt walkers move through a town centre. They wear grey outfits that are covered in long threads of fabric. — Stilt walkers impressed the crowd as they moved through the town centre

Lily-May Symonds/BBC Two participants wearing matching gold outfits pose for the camera. They wear long, gold robes complete with headdresses and matching staffs. Crowds surround them in a park during a sunny day. — Wardown Park was a blur of beautiful colours as the festivities continued into the late afternoon and evening

Toby Friedner/BBC A steel band performs under a tent within a park during a carnival celebration. They wear matching blue and red T-shirts that have the words "steel pan in motion" on the front. — The cacophony of sounds and colours was enriched by a steel band

Claudette Whittingham, executive director of the carnival, also said she was pleased the event was back at its spiritual home: Wardown Park.

"The community have said for a while they wanted it to be back in Wardown Park and we're really pleased to have been able to do that.

"We did have a low period because of Covid, but it's growing and growing, and we're back here and it's a platform on which we're going to build and it's going to get bigger, better, grander and bolder, so just keep coming," she added.