Celebrating the Heritage of UK Carnival Culture

Help us preserve and share the wonderful world of carnival with the first digital Carnival Archive in the UK.

The Carnival Archive Project, funded by Heritage Lottery Fund, is all about collecting, capturing, preserving and sharing the heritage of carnival and street celebrations in the Eastern region.

Carnivals and street processions bring everyone together to celebrate and enjoy all that is creative and fun in our communities. Beyond the spectacular performances, magical costumes and music, there’s a deep-rooted history and culture that has transformed our communities over the years. Carnival means different things to different people. This Carnival Archive Project offers everyone a chance to share photos, drawings, film, music, and stories about all things carnival. 

Working with local partner organisations, Norwich and Norfolk Community Arts, Southend Carnival Association, Northamptonshire Black History Association and Northampton Carnival Arts Consortium; and national partners the Victoria & Albert Museum and Black Cultural Archives, avenues will be opened up to collect local carnival archives and to catalogue, preserve, digitise and interpret them for new audiences.

The project is coordinated by a central team, based at UKCCA in Luton, together with Carnival Archive Coordinators, Community and Outreach Officers and volunteers located in Norwich, Southend-on-Sea and Northampton. The local partners and UKCCA will work with local schools to broaden knowledge of carnival heritage as a tool for inter-cultural understanding and promotion of citizenship, based around the collection of carnival archival material. There will also be exhibitions of material produced locally showcased at local Carnival events.