Taking place on the late May bank holiday Monday every year and attended by over 150,000 people each year, the procession starts at Wardown Park in Luton before making its way down New Bedford Road, around the Town Centre via St George’s Square, and back down New Bedford Road to finish up back in Wardown Park. The first carnival in Luton was in 1976 on a much smaller scale than today as a modest Victorian street fair as part of the Borough Council’s centenary celebrations. The carnival developed and evolved over the years and in 1998 Luton Carnival acquired international status, receiving the largest single lottery award for carnival development. In 2000, to mark the beginning of the new millennium, Luton celebrated with an expanded three-day event with more than 140,000 revellers taking to the streets for the massive international event.

Luton International Carnival is organised by Luton Borough Council Arts Development Unit in partnership with the Luton Carnival Arts Development Trust. The Carnival is sponsored by Bedfordshire Newspapers (Luton Herald and Post and The Luton News) and by local radio stations BBC Three Counties Radio and 97.6 Chiltern FM. The 2007 carnival, due to take place on Bank Holiday Monday 28 May, was cancelled due to adverse weather conditions. Major flooding, following 24 hours of heavy rain, meant New Bedford Road was impassable, and Wardown Park was waterlogged. This was the first time that the carnival was called off. In addition, continuing high winds meant that stages and other temporary structures were unable to be erected due to safety concerns.