Hundreds turned out on Sunday to help celebrate the official debut of Desborough Road Carnival.

The festivities began at around 11am with music, food stalls, live street art and a series of craft workshops offered by Wycombe Arts Centre.

Later, crowds of visitors ignored the afternoon rain to watch as a colourful parade lead by chairman of Wycombe District Council, Cllr Paul Turner and High Wycombe mayor, Maz Hussain made its way down Desborough Road.

Carnival goers dressed in garlands and sporting flags, tambourines and whistles cheered loudly as the procession – which also included stilt walkers, jugglers and mirror men – looped through The Eden Shopping Centre before triumphantly making its way back to Desborough Road.

Organisers High Wycombe BID company (HWBIDCo) were so delighted with the day’s success that they have committed to make Desborough Carnival a regular feature in their events calendar.

Desborough businesses were also thrilled with the positivity the carnival helped bring to the area.

Bapander Singh Khaneja, owner of Go Cartridges and Hempstro said: “Desborough Road businesses have experienced quite a few disturbances over the last few years due to the master plan.

"Throughout this HWBIDCo has been supporting and advising. Introducing this carnival was a great way for these businesses to showcase themselves and bring footfall back to this part of town which has some unique and outstanding businesses.”

Desborough Carnival is part of a long-term regeneration project for the Desborough Road area – which includes DesBox – Wycombe District Council’s micro business community – and a large-scale street art mural painting onto the front of Collins House – a joint project by local artist Dan Wilson, HWBIDCo and Wycombe Arts Centre.

Discussing the impact of carnival and future plans for the area, BID manager Melanie Williams said: “We were thrilled with how many people came to support the carnival.

"We enjoyed working with businesses and community groups to celebrate a very special and diverse community of business owners who operate in Desborough Road – an area that boasts the largest number of independent retailers in the town centre.

"We look forward to building on the event in future years.”