THE Caribbean Carnival celebrated its 30th birthday by putting on a bigger party than ever.

Thousands of people turned out on Sunday to see the colourful procession weave through the streets of Preston, for the first time, from Moor Park to the covered market.

Organisers estimate a record 20,000 people attended the event which, this year, moved from its traditional Easter bank holiday date to coincide with Preston's International City Festival.

Ron Clarke, organising committee chairman, said: "I think God smiled on us, I was expecting rain, but it only started to pour when we were cleaning up after the event. It was a fantastic show to celebrate the diverse community in Preston."

However, not all the festival events, from June 11 to 20, enjoyed the same success as the carnival.

Lack of advertising, a clash of events such as Euro 2004, and bad weather have been blamed for a poor turnout for some events.

A performance of Shakespeare's As You Like It, currently being staged to sell-out crowds at Hoghton Tower, only attracted 60 people in Miller Park on June 17.

Director Dean Taylor said: "The weather was bad, but more posters and flyers should have advertised the events.

"Our show has been tremendously successful at Hoghton Tower."

The hot air balloon launch and fun fair on Moor Park, at the start of the festival, was also poorly attended.

Alan Cowie, co-director of Events for You, organisers of the balloon festival, said: "A little more thought in the timing of the events could have avoided a clash, but this is the first International City Festival, and lessons must be learnt."

The culminating event Proms in the Park with Manchester Camerata had to be cancelled because of poor ticket sales.

Kerry Welsh, head of marketing and development at the Guild Hall, said: "We distributed 165,000 leaflets and 5,000 posters to newsagents across the city. We got Preston buzzing for the time the festival was on and I think, given the small budget we had, we did very well."

John Collins, Preston City Council leader, said some of the events, like Rock in the Park were successful and the festival would be evaluated.