Hundreds of local people of all ages and cultures came together at the annual Multicultural Frome Festival held on Sunday 13th October, at the Cheese and Grain.
Organisers Azeema Caffoor and Lenka Grimes from the charity Young People Frome said they were overwhelmed at the response and this year’s festival had 24 countries represented, ranging from Ireland to Nigeria and from Ukraine to Honduras. “In Frome, we now have over 70 cultures,” says Lenka.
The diverse community event brought together people who came to share and celebrate their culture and traditions through music, dance, food and drink, demonstrations, information, games, craft activities, singing and stories.
“It was lovely to see so many participants in traditional costumes from their respective countries,” explained Lenka.
“Performances included a Tibetan singing bowl demonstration by Nyima, an acoustic music session with an amazing range of instruments by the Celtic and Transatlantic group, which got everyone’s feet tapping, a Latin dancing session led by Angela Oliveira and finishing with a wonderfully colourful Nigerian family dancing and singing.”
There was a huge range of foods on offer from France, Nigeria, Guyana, Tibet, Syria, Turkey, Honduras, Romania, Ukraine, Palestine and Italy. “There was also some lovely Jamaican homemade lemonade, French Orangina and Horchata drink from Honduras to try,” says Lenka.
Activities included: Japa-
nese calligraphy, Thai Kratongs which floated on water, Tibetan sound healing, Austrian biscuit decorating, Spanish storytelling through song, a Peruvian hummingbird craft, a Palestinian textile craft, flag-making, Sri Lankan henna tattoos and Jamaican art.
Lenka added, “The event also welcomed stalls from RefYouMe, a charity organising volunteer trips to Calais, the Frome Welcomes Refugees group, Somerset Diverse Communities and The Glade, who are holding a Windrush exhibition at Rook Lane Chapel from Wednesday 14th November to Wednesday 18th December.
“Many people made new friends, learnt new things about other countries, danced, sang and found comfort in realising that there are other people in the town who are also from diverse cultures. It was a joyous and thoroughly enjoyable day and great for kids; I can’t wait for next year. Lovely to see different cultures and foods of the world and the way people celebrate.
“We would like to thank our funders, Frome Town Council and Somerset Diverse Communities (part of Community Council for Somerset), the Cheese and Grain staff for all their support, The Frome mayor for his thoughtful speech, all the performers and stall holders, our young volunteers; The Polish videographers and Ellie for the photos. We would also like to give a big shout out to Avanti School for their amazing and thoughtful artwork on the positive aspects of immigration and refugees that we were able to display at the event and finally all our amazing volunteers.”
If you would like to get involved in future events, please contact azeemacaff@gmail.com or lenkagrimes@gmail.com or contact Multicultural Frome on Facebook.
