Photos: Lauren Connolly
Writer/Performer: Aaron Spendelow
Set Designer/Dresser/Performer: Lauren Connolly
Produced by UKCCA for Luton Carnival
Hat Factory Arts Centre, Luton

Created as a response to Luton’s International Carnival Parade and as an additional event during the day, this collaboration between A Children’s Story, UKCCA, The Culture Trust, and Lauren Connolly saw the Factory Floor transform into an enchanted under the sea cavern, where Marina the Mermaid taught children and families how to create Under the Sea carnival headdresses before being sailed away on a deep-sea storytelling adventure with Pirate Pete.  We heard tales from the deep, danced, played games, and created our own carnival procession swimming around the deep blue sea.
With quiet sensory adventures in our special SEND sessions for those of all ages with additional needs, as well as sessions for all the family, this inclusive and accessible immersive oceanic space welcomed and introduced young people and their families to the day’s carnival celebrations.