Hundreds have gathered in Slough town centre today, Saturday May 20, as a massive dance event saw groups from all over the town perform a variety of styles.

The Diverse Steps – Dance in Unity event began at 1.40pm as a procession of drummers from the Ministry of Dhol lead a crowd up the High Street and back to the main stage in Town Square.

The event, organised by Slough Borough Council, has seen up to 16 different acts perform on stage, reflecting the cultural diversity of the town. They included the Roma Dance Group, Munde Punjab De performing Bhangra and youngsters from the Maly Gaiczek and Gaiczek performing traditional Polish dance. The performances on stage opened with the Claycots School Choir, made up of 26 children under the age of 11 who sang their own school song, Let’s Explore Our World.

The youngsters taking part in the event were treated to a reception at the Empire Cinema beforehand around midday, where nibbles were provided and organiser, Cllr Madhuri Bedi cut a celebratory cake alongside new town mayor, Cllr Ishrat Shah.

Cllr Bedi said: “I didn’t expect this amount of groups and different cultures.

“I have had groups of people saying ‘can we take part’ up until last night (Friday). The appetite is there for us to do this again – we just want to do it. What we’re doing here today is for the future generations.”

The event was set to close around 5.30pm.

Get next Friday’s Slough Observer for a full report and more pictures from the day.