Latest news with #CaribbeanCulture
CTV News
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
‘We're all about community and family': Third annual Island Fest hits downtown London
The sights and sounds of the Caribbean can be found in downtown London this weekend. The third annual Island Fest is underway at Covent Garden Market Rotary Square and Talbot Street. The event features vendors, food, and performers from as far away as Trinidad. There's also a Kiddie Corner. Cherie Leslie, marketing and social media director, says it gives people a chance to soak up Caribbean Culture in the heart of the city. 'In the Caribbean, we're all about community and family, so it's nice to bring the community and family to London here as well,' said Leslie. 'Many moons ago, we used to have these kind of festivals, then they kind of disappeared. So, we decided it was time to bring them back, and here we are, and every year they ask for when's it going to come back, and what we're expecting, so it's great to know that people actually want to see this and come out to support.' Island Fest is a free event, which runs through the weekend.
The Independent
29-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Notting Hill Carnival belongs in the streets, now more than ever
The largest street festival in Europe, Notting Hill Carnival, is in crisis. A celebration of Caribbean culture, the Carnival sees around two million people descend on the streets of Notting Hill every year during the August Bank Holiday weekend. But this year, due to a funding crisis and worries over its size, there are fears over whether it will take place at all. London's mayor, Sadiq Khan, has shared concerns raised by the Metropolitan Police about crushing at the event, saying that video footage of some of the crowds has 'frightened' him. He also drew comparisons to the potential for another Hillsborough disaster: no little matter for the lifelong Liverpool supporter. Notting Hill Carnival means a lot to me, as a second-generation Caribbean growing up in the UK. Originally held indoors at St Pancras Hall, it was established by Trinidadian activist Claudia Jones in 1959 as a response to the previous year's race riots. She created it to celebrate Caribbean culture and foster unity between Black and white people. A few years ago, when I appeared on an episode of Radio 4's 'Making History' and we were asked to nominate a person who should be featured on their plinth in London, I chose this woman. The outdoor festival, as we now know it, celebrates its 60th anniversary next year. I remember the loud music of Carnival, getting sticks of sugar cane to gnaw on, and the beautiful smell of Caribbean food permeating the air. I was transfixed by the colourful costumes, but most of all by the sight of Black and white people celebrating and dancing together. As a family, we would travel down to London to see my uncle Gus Philip, who was one half of Charlie Phillips' iconic 1967 photograph, Notting Hill Couple – showing a Black man and a white woman was symbolic because it was just this kind of image that fuelled the anger behind the riots. One of the ideas that has been floated about Carnival's future is moving it to Hyde Park and becoming a ticketed event. I find this suggestion offensive – Carnival is a street party based in the Caribbean tradition. As part of a safety report, Met Police reps have said no frontline officer looks forward to working the event due to the possibility of crushing, and the small criminal element that takes advantage of the large crowds to 'cause carnage'. Like so many public events, Carnival has been marred by violence, but this is particularly exaggerated in coverage. It's the only festival where any statement from the police begins with the number of crimes committed. This feels like a continuation of the criminalisation of the Caribbean community that created tension with the police in the first place. No one speaks about Glastonbury, Leeds or Reading in that way. It's an open street festival. Anything that happens near the Carnival or in the general area is attributed to it, and that's simply not accurate. Yet, however nostalgic one feels about it, and however much I hate the more racist commentary, the safety concerns raised do bother me. I can't help but think of the two little boys who are now growing up without their mother, Rebecca Ikumelo, after she was killed in a crush at Brixton Academy in 2023. Security guard Gaby Hutchinson also lost her life that night. Their families have put these deaths down to greed and are calling for the prosecution of those responsible. Hutchinson's family are taking legal action. This is the crux for me: if a disaster were to happen at Carnival, and any other people were left grieving for their family members, they wouldn't accept being told that safety concerns had been overlooked due to their race. But I don't want the environment to be changed, not least because the reasons for Carnival's very existence are still so present. Last year, we saw race riots across the UK, which were very similar to the ones that gave rise to Notting Hill Carnival in the first place. Carnival is about rebellion, celebration and reclamation of space. It belongs in the streets.
CTV News
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Behind the bright colours and ornate jewels in Carimas is a message of resiliency and celebration
While the eye-catching costumes are used to celebrate Caribbean cultures, the Montreal Carimas Festival is also a way to convey a message of resiliency.
BBC News
22-06-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Brighton Windrush event honours those who 'helped shape Britain'
A Windrush event is being held in Brighton with organisers aiming to honour the legacy of the generation that "helped rebuild Britain".Brighton & Hove Museums has organised a free afternoon of dancing, steel band performances and Caribbean food at the Brighton Royal Pavilion from 12:00 to 16:00 BST on Day has been held on 22 June since 2018, celebrating contributions Caribbean migrants and their families have made to the LaCorbiniere, joint head of culture change at Brighton & Hove Museums, said: "We want it to be a day for everyone." "It's a great opportunity to bring the community together, to celebrate Caribbean culture and to honour the Windrush generation who helped rebuild Britain." Stories of the generation "are woven into the fabric of the nation," from engineering, transport, community organising, the arts and working at Brighton General, according to Brighton & Hove Museums. 'Incredible spirit and strength' HMT Empire Windrush brought hundreds of passengers from the Caribbean and across the Commonwealth to the UK, docking at Tilbury, Essex, on 22 June a symbol of a wider mass-migration movement, those who arrived helped to rebuild Britain in the aftermath of World War in 2018, it came to light that the government had not properly recorded the details of people granted permission to stay in the UK, with many being wrongly LaCorbiniere said the event was also about showcasing a broader history of Britain."Everybody's made history, but the history that's represented currently I think in many museums - including ours, and in the pavilion - is very one-sided," she said. "It's white, it's upper class, it's posh, and it's largely male as well, so we're trying to redress the balance."
BBC News
21-06-2025
- BBC News
Suffolk commemorates 77th Windrush anniversary
Communities are celebrating the contributions Caribbean migrants have made to the UK on the 77th anniversary of Empire Windrush docked in Tilbury, Essex, in June 1948, bringing hundreds of passengers to will take place across Ipswich to mark this with live music, stalls, a parade and Windrush and Ipswich Windrush Society will host their own events - with both groups saying they were for all to enjoy. Suffolk Windrush has organised an event in Cornhill on Sunday including a steel band, a reggae choir, food and market stalls, and organisation's Charles Challenger hoped it would "add a different flare to the day" while also helping increase visitors to the town centre."The footfall of people will hopefully increase. This event tends to bring business into Ipswich so it's playing its part in helping to grow the local economy," he explained."We also have an exhibition for people to have a look at what the elders have been doing over the years." Mr Challenger added that the event would showcase the Caribbean as well as the contributions immigrant communities had made to British society."It is so important - it will bring greater understanding with the wider public,; it also takes away the fear; it brings love and understanding right across the board," he said."From 1968 when I arrived here to today, as we continue to celebrate the Windrush, I see the changes and I see so many changes in how young people are embracing the culture that we live in today." Ipswich Windrush Society (IWS) will celebrate the post-Windrush immigration on both Saturday and Saturday, the group will host a parade, live music, food and activities in Landseer Park in east Sunday, activities move to Sailmakers shopping centre in the town centre where there will be a gospel and fashion festival, live music and guest speakers. The shopping centre is a key location as has a Reflection Room - a time capsule exhibition of memorabilia showcasing the stories of the Windrush Thomas from IWS said he hoped it would bring people together from all walks of life."We have a front room setting that is to provoke memories of good times, bad times, sad times and the hard times, that they had to turn around, show resilience and put this room together because they were being indoctrinated into being British and they had to show they had arrived," he explained."So all the best things were in the front room."It was a mystical room and as a child you weren't allowed to go in because it was for big people only."Mr Thomas added the 77th anniversary events would the "biggest and best ever" that the group would "build on in years to come". Who are the Windrush generation? In 1948, the British Nationality Act gave people from colonies the right to live and work in World War Two, the government needed workers to help with a labour shortages and rebuild the Empire Windrush became a symbol of a wider mass-migration movement as hundreds more people sailed from the Caribbean to the UK in its wake, with immigrants from 1948-1971 becoming known as the Windrush Generation. Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
