Preparations are underway for the third Dartford Festival of Light which will take place on Friday October 21 through Dartford Town Centre between 6.30pm and 7.30pm. The parade will involve 10 schools from Dartford who will be working with renowned arts company Samesky in the build up to the event. In total over 500 young pupils will benefit from arts workshops. The children will make lanterns and torches which they will carry in the parade.

The Festival of Light has been organised by local arts organisation Cohesion Plus in partnership with Kent Equality Cohesion Council with the support of Dartford Borough Council and Kent County Council. The parade will start just on the green outside Central Library, will turn right towards the High Street, going past the Paper Moon Public House, and will then continue along the High Street. The parade will turn left at One Bell Corner and then head back towards the Bandstand in Central Park where the festival will climax with performances by Bloco Fogo Samba and Cultural Beats.

According to Gurvinder Sandher who is co-ordinating the event “I am very much looking forward to the event this Friday. We have been working closely with artists Samesky who have been delivering workshops for us in the schools in the build-up to the festival. The parade through Dartford Town Centre is always colourful and the climax of the parade at the Bandstand in Dartford is very spectacular. We are very fortunate for the support provided to this event by Dartford Borough Council, Kent Equality Cohesion Council and Kent County Council and I hope that the community will come out and support the young people in the parade.”

The aim of the Festival of Light is to bring the communities of Dartford together through the arts, and has been inspired by the Cultural Olympiad which promotes the Olympic values of excellence, respect and friendship and the Paralympics values of empower, achieve and inspire.