Festival of Nations

Workshops planned for local schoolchildren

(Date of issue: Friday, 20 June 2008)

Hundreds of local school children will be sampling some international skills next week, as part of this year’s Carlisle City Council Festival of Nations event.

Next Monday (30^th June) and Friday (4^th July) pupils from more than 40 Carlisle primary and secondary schools will be taking part in a diverse range of activities. They will include Asian and Chinese arts & crafts, Bangladeshi dancing, Native American storytelling, Islamic art, traditional Morris Dancing, Gypsy Traveller story telling, cultural cuisine and creative workshops.

The Carlisle City Council Festival of Nations culminates on Saturday 5^th July in Carlisle’s city centre shopping area and will include musicians and dancers celebrating cultures from around the world. The global street party is free and will be held between 10.30am and 4pm.

Thousands of visitors sample the free Carlisle City Council event each year and this year’s performers includes Dojo drummers, Chinese Lion, Punjabi dancers, African drummers and dancers, Irish dancers, and Polish dancers.

Leader of Carlisle City Council, Cllr Mike Mitchelson said:

"The Festival of Nations is one of the City Council’s most colourful and diverse events. Following last year’s successful schools programme, we will again be staging a series of workshop sessions with local primary and secondary pupils. Children will be able to participate in a variety of activities and learn more about other cultures."

A Culture Bazaar, organised by the Carlisle Asian Women’s Group, will also be held on Sunday 6^th July at Trinity School, between 11am and 6pm. It will include African drumming, Indian, Bengali and Chinese dancing and singing, alongside food from around the world. For further information about this event, visit www.hdmspiceshop.co.uk  

The Festival of Nations is supported by Cumbria County Council, Cumbria CVS and the Equality and Diversity Partnership.

Related Links

• Program of events
• Festival of Nations A4 Poster in PDF Format (234Kb)