THE Tilbury Carnival has been hailed a huge success after 400 people took part in this year’s parade.

The carnival procession wound its way through the streets of the town - which were lined with hundreds of people - in a glorious parade of music, dance, spectacular larger than life puppets and beautiful silk flags.

The carnival was inspired by the heritage of the area and the importance of the arrival of the Empire Windrush in Tilbury in 1948.

The parade, last Saturday, was started by chairman of the Tilbury on the Thames Trust, Stuart Wallace, MP Jackie Doyle-Price and led by Tilbury’s 17ft tall Tilbury Docker puppet.

The set of thirty flags were created and used in the parade, depicting illustrations inspired by the story of the Windrush.

Some of the flags depict the journey and arrival of the Empire Windrush bringing the first group of Caribbean people to settle in the UK, including the famous calypsonian Lord Kitchener.

The flags were created by Kinetika in collaboration with local community members from a wide range of Tilbury organisations, including One Community Trust, Gateway Academy, and Kite Spirit textile group.

Stuart Wallace, chairman of the Tilbury Thames Trust, said: “We had a brilliant time at Tilbury Carnival 2019 this weekend.

“It was a day of celebrations and there was a great community spirit throughout the event.

“We had hundreds of local volunteers helping us with the Carnival as well as hundreds more taking part in the parade and coming along on the day to join in the fun.

“We wanted to build on the success of the parade and Windrush celebrations last year and we certainly achieved this.

“My thanks to everyone involved, to those who came along on the day and to our funders.”