Hundreds of people turned out to enjoy dance, music and food from around the world at Carlisle’s Culture Bazaar
Now in its 18th year, the event brought together different nationalities from Ukrainian to Nepalese for two days under the banner of A City United.
Organised by Multicultural Cumbria, Culture Bazaar was held at Richard Rose Central Academy, last Saturday and Sunday and saw visitors enjoy dhol drumming, cookery demonstrations, storytelling, Afghan calligraphy and a whole variety of dance styles – Bhangra, Bharatanatyam Indian classical, clog, line, ceilidh and Ukrainian.
Saj Ghafoor OBE, director of strategy & partnerships at Multicultural Cumbria and the founder and organiser of Culture Bazaar said it was a chance for different cultures to truly be themselves.
She said: “It’s an event about celebrating our identities without feeling the odd one out because it does take courage in an environment that’s different to your own. But we definitely encourage it.
“I never thought we’d be here 18 years later and it’s bigger and better than ever.
“Culture Bazaar is about bringing people of all communities together, the diasporas as well as local British people.
“It’s about sharing our heritage, our culture, through music, dance, food, art, arts and crafts. There’s no other event that does this. We can’t change the world but we can change Carlisle and Cumbria.”
Dhol drummer Davinder Singh, of Punjabi Roots Academy, said: “Yes, we are Punjabi but that doesn’t mean to say that’s all we do. We have a Beyoncé Bollywood mix, a Rihanna Bhangra mix.
“We live in one world and music is a great thing, dance is a great thing, culture is a great thing. It’s about bringing all this culture and communities together, and this is a way we can connect with everybody.”
Stallholder Cynthia Waggah shared the culture of her home country, Kenya in East Africa.
She said: “My favourite part has been the exchange of different cultures and enjoying the diversity and getting to learn more about how different we are and how equal we are. The different food, the different people.”
For Lauren Exley, chair of Multicultural Cumbria, Culture Bazaar was a tonic for events in the wider world.
“It’s really positive,” she said. “There’s a real sense of community here. All the communities together, having fun, learning about each other, spending time with each other in one space.
“It’s really refreshing to see and I think that everybody feels that the minute that they walk in.”
Janet Cresswell, CEO of Multicultural Cumbria, added her thanks to Richard Rose Central Academy for hosting the event.
“It’s the most diverse secondary school in Carlisle,” she said, “and being able to use such a fabulous space really enabled us to showcase different cultures from around the world.”
Culture Bazaar was made possible thanks to the support of sponsors, The National Lottery Community Fund, Wragg Mark-Bell Solicitors and Align Property Partners.
