‘Amazing’ turn-out at Festival of Lights near Leamington

The Festival of Lights runs at the community centre in Sydenham every autumn to celebrate Bonfire Night and Diwali all in one day. Organisers say this year’s event attracted more than 800 people.

Sydni Centre manager Kate Cliffe said: “It was our most successful festival to date. There was such an amazing turn-out.

“A group of young rappers and Bhangra dancers gave amazing performances. A lot of them had never been on stage before. The sense of achivement was incredible.”

The event also included a fun fair, workshops, stalls, food - and a fireworks finale at the end of the evening.

But Ms Cliffe says the centre - which is a not-for-profit venture - finds it difficult to fund the event. She said: “We find this festival really difficult to fund. Luckily, this year a lot of organisations and people ran workshops and stalls at the event free of charge.

“If we get the same numbers next year, we’re going to have to expand more outdoors.

“I’d really like to thank everybody who helped - especially the volunteers who stewarded the event. Without them, we could not have run it.”

Anyone who has ideas for funding or if businesses would like to sponsor the event, they can call Ms Cliffe on 422071.