Oxford's Cowley Road Carnival was today pledged continuing support by last year's rescuer BMW as plans for next month's festivities were unveiled.

At the launch of this year's event, which is expected to attract up to 25,000 people, a spokesman for the BMW Plant in Cowley said the company would be backing the carnival for the foreseeable future after coming to its rescue last year.

Alexandra Brooks told the Oxford Mail: "It's an enduring relationship and our support for the carnival will continue.

"It's not just a case us supporting it financially, it's also getting involved in the carnival and trying to promote it to our employees because it's a great opportunity for East Oxford to show the rest of the city what the area is all about."

Carnival operations director Adrian Sell, of East Oxford Action, said he was delighted.

"They came in at the last minute and helped save the event last year and were the first to come in this year and say they would sponsor us," he said.

"We are aiming to make it a sustainable event for the future and if they are interested in partnering with us permanently that is fantastic.

"We get a lot of support from a lot of different quarters but it makes it much, much easier for us to know there is that support which will provide some infrastructure and security into the future."

This year's event, on July 1, sees the return of the carnival parade which this year will take fire, Oxfordshire's 1,000th anniversary, and the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade as its themes.

The Blackbird Leys Choir, which starred in TV's The Singing Estate, will be among the performers.

And at 4pm on each of the stages, the performances will pause for a rendition of Bob Marley's Redemption Song, an anthem about the abolition of slavery.

Ian Nolan, one of the organisers, said: "I think everybody missed the procession last year. It's a key part of the carnival with everybody dancing down the street in whatever way they want to, whether it's dancing to the samba band, Bengali dance, or Chinese dragons and that's what people are excited about."

One of the sponsors is the Aziz restaurant in Cowley Road. Owner Aziz-Ur Rahman said: "A lot more thought has gone into it and the gap last year was an opportunity to plan well ahead. I think it's going to be the best yet and I think it can grow and get bigger and bigger."

He added: "It's a very important event for local businesses and also the whole of Oxford because it brings communities together in the Cowley Road.

"It opens up the feel of not just East Oxford but also the different cultures and communities who live there."