Photographs from the launch event held in 2009 to celebrate the opening of the new centre. The launch event was a large scale celebration to inaugurate the new UK Centre for Carnival Arts’ building. The aspiration for this event was to showcase the very best in costume design, carnival music and dance. A spectacular night time parade processed through the centre of Luton and culminated in a performance that featured the illuminated new building as a back drop to the events happening on the street. The storyline for the event was based around the theme of five global carnival queens uniting in Luton to pass on their unique carnival legacy to the UKCCA. The queens represented carnival traditions from South America, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia and Africa. The design of the five elements was commissioned by artists who then worked in collaboration with participants from five regional carnivals. Each of these carnivals sent representatives to Luton to participate in the launch event; the UKCCA reciprocated after the launch by sending the costumes and the structures to regional carnivals to be showcased. The Commissions UKCCA commissioned five carnival artists who delivered the following: • The design and construction of a large and impressive structure that represents one of five international carnival queens. The structure should be 5 metres high, should be mobile and should ideally involve kinetic movement and lighting. • The design and making of 40 costumes that reflect the international carnival queen theme and that incorporate innovative and visually exciting elements. • The creation of a performance element that includes music and dance; the musical element will preferably be live. • A five minute performance element that will be performed on stage outdoors in front of a live audience of up to 20,000.