Culture in Luton
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[edit] Nightlife
[edit] Sport
[edit] Football
[edit] Cricket
[edit] Other
[edit] Festivals
[edit] Luton Carnival
The biggest one day carnival in Europe [1], Luton International Carnival has been going since 1976 [2] and features over 30 floats representing a huge variety of different cultures and ethnicities. Starting as a modest affair to celebrate the Borough of Luton centenary anniversary, it changed and evolved when 1998, the Luton Carnival Arts Development Trust gained International status and a lottery grant. [3] It is generally held on the late Bank Holiday monday. of May, attracting up to 150,000 visitors [4]
The procession starts at Wardown Park and makes its way down New Bedford Road, around the Town Centre via St George's Square, back down New Bedford Road and finishes back at Wardown Park. The procession is complemented by music stages and stalls around the town centre and at Wardown Park. [5]
[edit] St. Patrick's Day
The local annual festival celebrating the Patron saint of Ireland, St Patrick, is held on the weekend nearest to March 17 and is attended by more than 3,000 people [6]. Now on its 9th year [7], the festival brings the strong Irish culture in Luton to everyone and includes a parade, various markets stalls and music stands as well as Irish themed events happening across various places in Luton. [8]
[edit] Other Festivals
[edit] Parks
[edit] Wardown Park
Wardown Park is situated on the River Lea in Luton and is an oasis of calm within walking distance of the town centre offering everything from sporting facilities to museum, gallery and formal gardens. The park is situated between Old Bedford Road and the A6, New Bedford Road.
At the centre of the park is a lake, which is formed from the River Lea. The lake contains small island which is not accessible to the public, and is home to various waterfowl, swans, ducks and geese.
[edit] Stockwood Park
Stockwood Park is a large municipal park in Luton, Bedfordshire near to Junction 10 of the M1 and is acclaimed for its period formal gardens, leading crafts museums and extensive golfing facilities.
The park was originally the estate and grounds to Stockwood house, which was demolished in 1964.
[edit] Woodland
[edit] Great Bramingham Wood
[edit] Other Woodland
Slaughters Wood - look up
[edit] Museums
[edit] Luton Museum
Luton Museum & Art Gallery in Luton is housed in a large Victorian mansion in Wardown Park on the outskirts of the town centre. The museum collection focusses on the traditional crafts of Bedfordshire, notably lace-making and hat-making. There are samples of local lace from as early as the 17th century.
The Wenlock Jug, a rare example of a jug cast, was almost sold to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art for £750,000 but was export-stopped in October 2005 by culture minister, David Lammy, based on a recommendation by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest, run by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.
[edit] Stockwood Craft Museum
Based in Stockwood Park, Luton, the collection of rural crafts and trades held at Stockwood Park Museum was amassed by Thomas Wyatt Bagshawe, who was a notable local historian and a leading authority on folk life. Bagshawe was born in Dunstable in 1901 and became a director of the family engineering firm.
The collection only contains examples from Bedfordshire and the borders of neighbouring counties, giving the collection a very strong regional identity.
[edit] Mossman Collection
The Mossman Carriage collection is held at Stockwood Park, Luton and is the largest and most significant vehicle collection of its kind in the country, including originals from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.
The Mossman collection of horse drawn vehicles was given to Luton Museum Service in 1991. It illustrates the development of horse-drawn road transportation in Britain from Roman times up until the 1930s.
[edit] Local media
[edit] Newspapers
Two weekly newspapers are delivered free to all the houses in Luton. They are:
There is also a weekly sister paper of the Herald and post which is not free.
- Luton News[11] - Published every Wednesday
Additionally once a month there is a council produced newspaper called LutonLine,[12] usually delivered with Luton on Sunday.
[edit] Radio
The local BBC station, Three Counties Radio broadcasts from its office in Hastings Street, Luton to Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire.[13]
Chiltern Radio is the local independent station and broadcasts from Chiltern Road in Dunstable.
The university's radio station, Luton FM, runs for 28 days during May In addition, Ramadan FM broadcasts during the month of Ramadan. Diverse FM,[14] another local radio station, has recently been awarded a community radio license from Ofcom and hopes to start broadcasting full-time in April 2007.
[edit] Television
Local-News TV is an internet based on-demand television channel for Luton and Bedfordshire. The channel generally covers community news and local-interest stories. Although the channel produces most of its own content, viewers are encouraged to contribute their own stories and videos to the website.
[edit] Other
[edit] Theatre
Luton is home to "The Library Theatre", a 238 seat theatre located on the 3rd floor of the town's Central Library. The Theatre's core programme consists of local amateur dramatic societies, pantomime, childrens' theatre (on Saturday mornings) and one night shows of touring theatre companies.
[edit] Art
[edit] Crap Towns
In 2004, Luton was voted as the 'crappiest' town in the UK in the book Crap Towns II edited by Sam Jordison and Dan Kieran, beating previous winner in Crap Towns, Kingston upon Hull. The "award" was said to have won due to its abundance of abysmally ugly architecture, abundance of chain stores and lack of heart. However, given that fellow towns on this list were places such as Windsor, Oxford, Winchester, Liverpool (European Capital of Culture), and tiny London commuter belt villages, the list is of limited relevance.
This book deeply offended many people who see the town as a place which has had a significant impact on the history of the UK. [15]
[edit] Local attractions
| Key | |
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Abbey/Priory/Cathedral |
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Accessible open space |
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Amusement/Theme Park |
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Castle |
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Country Park |
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English Heritage |
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Forestry Commission |
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Heritage railway |
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Historic House |
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Museums (free/not free) |
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National Trust |
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Zoo |
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[edit] References
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ Luton Carnival Coverage on the BBC
- ^ [4]
- ^ [5]
- ^ [6]
- ^ [7]
- ^ Herald and Post
- ^ Luton on Sunday
- ^ Luton News
- ^ Lutonline homepage
- ^ Three Counties Raio
- ^ Diverse FM
- ^ BBC NEWS | UK | Luton voted Britain's worst town
[edit] Further reading
E. Grabham, From Grand to Grove: Entertaining South Bedfordshire, Book Castle, 2007, ISBN 978-1-903747-83-4.
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