Caribbean carnival honours first event in 40th year

Leicester Caribbean Carnival marks its 40th anniversary this year

Leicester's Caribbean Carnival will mark its 40th anniversary with a different starting point in honour of the inaugural event.

The carnival will begin at the African Caribbean Centre in Maidstone Road, where it started 40 years ago, rather than Victoria Park which has been the usual starting location in recent years.

Organisers canceled last year's event due to financial difficulties but the carnival is set to go ahead on 2 August for its milestone year.

Amanda Toussaint, who is on the carnival committee, said after the disappointment of last year the plan was to try to make its comeback "bigger and better than it has ever been".

"This year is 40 years of the carnival and we're super-excited about that and are hoping to make it a huge success this year," she said.

"Every year is about what you're going to wear, the new trainers you're going to get, who you're meeting, what we're going to do, what the after-party was once you get older

"We have the whole range of Caribbean islands represented in the carnival."

Amanda Toussaint says the Leicester Caribbean Carnival has "been everything" to her

The carnival's opening ceremony will be at the African Caribbean Centre where all the dignitaries will speak.

It will proceed over Swain Street Bridge to the city centre, then up London Road to Victoria Park.

Ms Toussaint added: "Everyone's been taking a degree of responsibility and just trying their very best to get this over the line and make sure that we give people the kind of experience they expect of a 40th carnival in Leicester.

"I know [carnival chairperson, Dennis 'Sugar' Christopher] as well is very mindful that he wants to step down this year and hand the baton over to a new kind of generation of people to run the carnival.

"So we've also got to be mindful of what does the future look like for carnival

"There's a real kind of energy now to say, what does the 41st year look like? And who's going to take the carnival forward?"