Young and old came together to celebrate the borough and its community last week at the first ever Celebrate Islington festival.

Islington Gazette: Performers at the Celebrate Islington festival. Picture: Joshua ThurstonPerformers at the Celebrate Islington festival. Picture: Joshua Thurston (Image: © Joshua Thurston - All Rights Reserved)

More than 250 people packed into Islington Assembly Hall to watch as performers of all ages took to the stage last week.

The event was organised by community groups Children & Young People's Forum, Every Voice, Forum+, Islington Faiths Forum, Islington Hate Crime Forum and Islington Refugee Forum - and supported by the council and the Arsenal Foundation.

Its purpose was to bring the community together to celebrate the borough's diversity. There was also a guest appearance from Jeremy Corbyn,

Roz Miller, director of the faiths forum, said: "It was clear there are a lot of groups and people in Islington who are passionate about the borough and are focused on working to support a vibrant and tolerant community.

Islington Gazette: Performers at the Celebrate Islington festival. Picture: Joshua ThurstonPerformers at the Celebrate Islington festival. Picture: Joshua Thurston (Image: © Joshua Thurston - All Rights Reserved)

"There are already murmurs of a festival in 2020, so this event appears to have captured the imagination of many."

Mr Corbyn said: "This event was a perfect example of different cultures coming together to celebrate our vibrant and diverse community in Islington that I am so proud to represent.

"This event would not have been possible without the hard work of all of the organisations present and I thank them for that.

"There are no limits to what we can achieve when we come together to celebrate the diversity of our community."