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Dartford town centre was brought to a standstill on Friday October 22 as around 800 people took part in the second Dartford Festival of Light.  The parade involved 15 schools from Dartford along with their parents and members of the public who joined in as the parade went around.  The children had been working hard in the preparation for the festival making lanterns and torches which they carried in the parade.  In total over 650 children benefited from workshops in the build up.

The...

Gravesend town centre was brought to a standstill on Friday evening as over 600 schools children, teachers, parents and members of the public were involved in the Festival of Light parade.  The project involved work with 11 schools from Gravesham in the build up.  The schools worked with renowned arts company Samesky.  In total over 400 young pupils benefited from arts workshops.  The children made lanterns and torches which they carried in the parade. 

The aim of the Festival of Light...

The 8^th Dartford Community Mela Festival took place at the bandstand in Central Park.  This was the first time that it had been held outdoors. The Mela celebrated the diversity of the borough through music, food and dance.

There was a full programme of music and dance on stage including Taylormade Dance, Bloco Fogo, Jewels Belly Dancers as well as some of the best talent on the bhangra scene including Angrez Ali, Four by Four, Foji, Benny Dhaliwal and bhangra legends Premi. ...

The Mela Day event again proved to be popular with thousands in attendance for the all day cultural extravaganza.  It was formally launched by a community parade which featured local schools who had been working with Samesky, Lucky Moyo and Cultural Beats in the build up and local community groups.  The parade climaxed in front of the main stage. 

Bill Singh from Cultural Beats commented “The idea of having a community parade was a great idea.  It was so positive to see so many different...