We are building a living archive with and for our local community around Caribbean influences on Carnival in Waltham Forest. We’re hosting an open call for photographs, flyers or other materials including your oral stories and memories to be included in a new display at Vestry House Museum co-curated with GB Carnival, which will open to the public when Vestry House Museum reopens in Autumn 2026.

Do you remember the Young People’s Caribbean Carnival or Leyton Carnival between the late 90s and mid 2010s? Or have any stories, photos or ephemera from Carnivals in Waltham Forest over the past 30 years? If so, we want to hear from you.

If you have photos or images of Carnival you would like to donate, this can be done in two ways:
• Donate the physical copy
• Come to a Collection Day so we can scan your contribution. We will return the original to you and keep a digital version

We’re hosting several Collection Days throughout the Spring/Summer for you to drop-in to see the team and contribute your materials to the display:

• Saturday 11 April at Walthamstow Library from 2pm to 5pm

• Saturday 16 May at Walthamstow Library from 2pm to 5pm

If you are unable to make any of our planned Collection Days or would like to find out more please email us on: vhm.enquiries@walthamforest.gov.uk

Examples of archival materials you can contribute include photographs, flyers or posters, programs, film or video, tickets, newspaper clippings, drawings, sketches or other images relating to Carnival.

Your contributions will then be preserved in the Waltham Forest Archives for future generations, as part of our work to collect and make visible local stories around African-Caribbean Carnival in Waltham Forest.

The co-curated display will tell the story of Carnival in Waltham Forest, including various local cultural influences on Carnival, including African and Caribbean.

The deadline for submissions for inclusion in the display is: Monday 15 June 2026.