The Dartford Festival of Light returned to the borough for its 13th year on Friday 25th November. Organised by Kent Equality Cohesion Council in partnership with Cohesion Plus and Dartford Borough Council, the aim of the festival was to bring diverse communities together to celebrate the shared British values of respect, friendship, diversity and community. The festival was supported by Arts Council England and sponsored by local business KKB Group.

In the build-up artistic partners Same Sky worked with 11 schools from across the borough to create lanterns which celebrated the values of the festival working with 600 children.

The festival started with a series of street performances as the children lit up their lanterns on the High Street. The parade led by Kelvin Holford Deputy Lieutenant of Kent, the Mayor of Dartford Cllr Paul Cutler and the Leader of Dartford Borough Council Cllr Jeremy Kite MBE then started and went through the town centre before finishing in Central Park. The festival climaxed with a spectacular fireworks display which was greatly enjoyed by the audience.

Gurvinder Sandher MBE DL, the CEO of Kent Equality Cohesion Council commented, “This event’s biggest strength is the sheer number of people it brings together from across the borough, young and old, urban and rural, different faiths and backgrounds but all united as residents of Dartford. We are grateful to all of our partners for all their ongoing support including Dartford Borough Council and our event sponsors KKB, it is nice to see local businesses supporting community celebrations like this.”