Green Street, Upton Park, was once again aglow with hundreds of candle-lit lanterns as Newham Council staged the 12th annual Runga Rung: 'Lighting the Way' procession on Friday (19 November). Accompanied by the Dhol Academy and Bollywood Brass Band, the procession was led off by Councillor Andrew Baikie, Deputy Mayor & Councillors Harvinder Singh Virdee (Green Street West) & Sukhdev Singh Marway (East Ham North).

Children and young people from Shaftesbury, Stratford, Elmhurst, Plashet, Lister Community and Southern Road Schools as well as the Upton Centre and Green Street Library took part in the parade, which featured a giant metal bird, dazzling pink flamingo and hundreds of bright coloured lanterns.

A specially constructed Olympic Orrery guided the way around the route. The float, which supported London 2012's Olympic bid, featured spinning sporting images on a rotating wheel.

Cllr Baikie said: "It is great that so many people have come out on this freezing cold evening to participate in and support Runga Rung. It is another example of the fantastic community spirit that can be found in Newham and a demonstration of how celebrating in this way helps us to explore cultural differences and makes everyone in the borough feel welcome."

Runga Rung -a Hindi word, which literally translated means colour of colours was the culmination of a series of lantern-making workshops run by Emergency Exit Arts (EEA) - a community arts group - across Newham's schools and community centres. It takes its inspiration form South Asian customs and fuses together Bollywood, Indian traditions and contemporary British Asian culture in celebration of the borough's diversity.

The Runga Rung was originally developed from a Diwali (the Hindu celebration, Festival of Lights) procession in 1992, staged in partnership with Emergency Exit Arts and Little Ilford School in Manor Park. It moved to Green Street in 1995. This year's procession route was as follows: Shaftesbury School - Shaftesbury Road - Katherine Road - South Esk Road - Green Street - Rochester Avenue - Queens Road - Northern Road - St Mary's Road - Lister Community School.

Emergency Exit Arts formed in 1980 with the aim of bringing local people together to celebrate shared history, cultural identity and diversity. They are based in Greenwich. For more information log on to www.eea.org.uk