"We thought we were the business when we formed a skiffle group and called ourselves The Four Lads. We were terrible. I remember going to Shoreditch Carnival once and entering a talent competition. We were belting out 'Diana' with the veins in our necks nearly bursting, seeing who could sing the highest and loudest. We came fourth - there were only three other acts."

Lenny McLean, AKA the Guv'nor, 1949-1998

About the carnival The Guv'nor and skiffle may both be fading memories now, but the Shoreditch Carnival has had a long-overdue revival in recent years. In 2001, the first Shoreditch Car Free Day took over Curtain Road for a day, filling the street with music and stalls. After skipping a year because of the two-way roadworks, Shoreditch's Car Free Day event returned in 2003, this time dubbed the Shoreditch Carnival and encompassing 19 of the 20 streets inside the Triangle.

sunday 21 september 2003 The streets within the Shoreditch Triangle were OPEN * on Sunday 21st September 2003 from noon to 8pm for Shoreditch Carnival and Car Free Day.

*open for walking, cycling, skating, dancing, eating, drinking, etc (closed to motors). Old Street, Great Eastern Street and Shoreditch High Street were open to all traffic as usual.

The streets and spaces within the Triangle were opened up to art displays, stalls, street entertainment, music and poetry stages, plus terrace-style eating and drinking outside restaurants, cafes and bars.

Entertainment included three music areas: Alabama 3, The Egg, a DJ set from Lemon Jelly, New Inn Jazz, King Kong Crew, Just Jack, Stateside Hombres, plus DJ Crispin Dior; the Showsomelove urban music area, complete with skate zone and half pipe; and the ever-popular Secretsundaze sound system, hauling their funky breaks and beats onto the street. Cultural Virus literary stage took over Cargo, while Albion Kids Show and the Hackney Play Bus set up on Curtain Road.

Terrace-style eating and drinking outside pubs, bars and restaurants saw barbecues in Thai, West Indian, and Cajun styles, while market stalls for local traders included book sellers, cycle shop, urban couture - there were even al fresco haircuts by Tommy Guns of Charlotte Road. A popular cycle test track and carbon emission workshops by Save Our World brought travel awareness events, while visitors could ride in style to stations courtesy of free rickshaws.

For more pictures of the day, see Nina Fellmann's weblog entry on the Shoreditch Carnival (in German!), and Ruth Segarra's photos and review of the event.