Luton Carnival is an absolutely spectacular event that takes place in May every year in Luton and is fast become a must see for anyone visiting Britain, particularly around London, over this time period. For this one afternoon, the whole of Luton stops – from the infants at the local primary schools up to company directors – to watch the procession trail around the streets of Luton. It fist made its appearance in 1976 as a local street fair for the local residents, but the carnival has grown rapidly in popularity and managed to receive international recognition in 1988. Now, over 100,000 are believed to turn out to see, or be part of, it every year.

At this sort of time, the weather in Britain can be pretty temperamental and no one ever whether it’s going to pour down with rain or be a heat wave. However, with many months of meticulous planning, the weather simply isn’t allowed to stop the fun. No matter what, the carnival will be absolutely brilliant with every event from Brazilian Dancers to African Drummers parading. This will be complemented perfectly by a range of soul and jazz music, and loads of offerings by local organisations such as schools, businesses and charities. There is also a very wide variety of stalls littered around the street in case you want to buy souvenirs from the event, or even sample some of the fine food and wares being offered by local, national or even international merchants.