| Just a few Carnival facts... | - The Carnival began in 1985 and is in it's 21st year.
- The Carnival is always celebrated on the first Saturday in August to coincide with the anniversary of emancipation from slavery.
- The theme for this years Carnival was 'A New Beginning'.
- The Carnival Parade is lead by the Carnival Queen, who is chosen a week before the big day.
- She is accompanied by the Carnival Prince, Princess and Mama.
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Before we even got to the gates we were confronted by groups of amazingly excited children waving flags and blowing whistles very loudly and very often! There was an immediate feeling of energetic tension as we approached the dancers who were waiting to start their long trek round the city centre. The Parade | ""you can’t actually swallow it, as it is similar to chewing a piece of wood"" | | Becca - on the unusual texture of sugar cane |
All the costumes looked beautiful and it was clear a great deal of talent and time, and possibly tears had gone into making them. Everywhere I looked there was something interesting to photograph – from florescent pink flowers to small, silver, spinning globes. I was busy trying to capture the colourful carnival on my digital camera - take a look at my picture gallery... We spent most of the day trying to work out our favourite design – and disagreeing every time! (I personally liked all the animal themed ones, especially the giraffes and zebras)  | | A really interesting blue flower design. |
It was really interesting chatting to the people involved in the parade, many of whom had been involved in other carnivals around the country. I even grabbed a chance to speak to the Carnival Queen who was dressed in a very impressive (but apparently very heavy) costume that resembled a very large, pink peacock! This was only the second time she had been involved in Leicester’s Caribbean Carnival and admitted she didn't quite know how she can top being Carnival Queen next year. The Food After watching the parade go past we half walked, half danced (as it was impossible to resist the music!) to the many stalls that were set up within Victoria Park. There was a wide variety of things to look at - stalls selling crafts and Carnival trinkets, a music concert, fair rides and even a foot washing station!! However one of the key ideas of the carnival seemed to be to stuff people as full of lovely food as possible!  | | Becca tries a jelly coconut!! |
The gorgeous smell of the jerk chicken and roasted sweet corn wafted over us from every other stall; which led me to be slightly bemused that some people were walking around eating everyday hot dogs. We decided to try the sweeter side of the Caribbean cuisine. The jelly coconut involved first drinking the juice and then scooping out the jelly like contents – the jury’s still out on the unusual texture. The freshly cut sugar cane was definitely a newly found hit with us – although you can’t actually swallow it, as it is similar to chewing a piece of wood. At the end of the day Overall we left the Carnival happy and very impressed – if a little sore (note to self – don’t wear new shoes when day will possibly involve lots of walking and dancing). The atmosphere was great, with a real sense of community and a wide variety of ages, cultures -- and dancing abilities! We'll definitely be stopping by next year... | 
