THE annual Multicultural Frome event returned to the town on Sunday 9th October at The Cheese and Grain with hundreds of people of all ages and nationalities taking part in the festivities.
Organisers Azeema Caffoor and Lenka Grimes, from the charity Young People Frome, say they were overwhelmed by the response of this year’s festival as they had 22 countries represented, ranging from Scotland to Kenya to Romania.
The event also saw the launch of a Multicultural Frome cookbook, which contains a collection of recipes that people wanted to share with others.
The organisers say, “The diverse community event brought together people who came to share their culture and traditions through music, dance, food, demonstrations, information, games, craft activities, singing and stories. It was lovely to see so many participants in traditional costumes from their respective countries.
“Performances included the Scottish bagpipes, a Japanese kendo demonstration, dancing from the Kujawy Polish group and dancing from the newly-arrived Ukrainian community. Children were also entertained by Nieves Moro with Spanish theatre, and Mahesh with Indian storytelling. Trinity First School pupils sang and played on belleplates and ukuleles, and Avanti Park School pupils sang too.
“Some of the delicacies on offer included Tibetan dumplings (momos), Eritrean stews (Ades, Alcha, Tsebhi), Jamaican home-made lemonade, Scottish scotch eggs, Kenyan curried goat, Romanian Sarmale and lots of delicious savoury snacks, cakes and biscuits from Spain, Poland, Turkey and Hungary.
“Activities included Japanese origami, Thai Kratongs to float on water, Tibetan sound healing, German word puzzles, Finnish Moomin activities and a quiz facilitated by an exchange student from Switzerland.
“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 that are also from diverse cultures.”
The event also welcomed stalls from SARI (Stand against racism and inequality), Frome ARC (Anti-racist communities) group, Somerset Diverse Communities and Frome Twinning Association. Bilingual children’s books were also offered on the day, kindly donated by Somerset library services. Hayesdown First School pupils also made some wonderful multicultural decorations for the venue.
Some of the comments from those that attended included, “It was a joyous and thoroughly enjoyable day and great for kids, can’t wait for next year!” and “I had an enjoyable time running my stall, meeting friendly people who are interested in each and every one of our countries and it’s great that we can continue and share some of our traditions here, even if we are thousands of miles away from our homelands.”
The organisers added, “The festival is a great way to address discrimination locally by celebrating and enjoying the positive contributions that our new communities bring to the town.
“We would like to thank our funders Frome Town Council and Somerset Diverse Communities (part of Community Council for Somerset), all the performers and stall holders, our young volunteers: The Polish Jag Bloggers for the video and Emilia Maule, of Maldivian heritage, for the photography. 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.”
