Tavistock is hosting its first multicultural festival in mid-June during national Refugee Week with events celebrating the best of all societies through art, food, drama and storytelling.
The main hub for events will be Tavistock Library, backed by a story session and a picnic in The Meadows park. It will consist of largely free pop-in sessions aimed at all ages with one event dedicated to children aged six and under.
The festival, from Monday, June 16, to Sunday, June 22, is being staged by Tavistock Celebrates, a group of individuals and organisations looking to promote and celebrate the diverse cultures of the area. The group is working with Plymouth’s art centre The Box to bring its recent Windrush exhibition to the festival.
A festival spokesperson said: “Join us for a week of relaxed and welcoming events, exhibitions, workshops and performances exploring and celebrating the many cultures of our local community.
“We hope that by building connections and sharing knowledge and experiences we can support integration and challenge anti-immigrant misinformation.
On Wednesday, June 18, the library is hosting a drop-in community cinema at 1pm with refreshments. The event will show a series of short films exploring the National Refugee Week theme of communities as a superpower. The films encourage us to learn about and celebrate the diverse ways we build and sustain our communities.
Then on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, June 19-21, a drop-in cardboard community art project is being staged at the library from 10am-4pm. Anyone is welcome to join a workshop to build individual cardboard ‘homes’ to compile a community.
On Friday, June 20, the library will stage a ‘Tiny Trails Session’ from 10.30am-12.30pm, teaching children age six about different cultures in a fun way aimed at dispelling stereotypes to combat racism. Then that evening, from 7pm-9pm, a drop-in session Tavy Sings the World has Okehampton’s Wren Music group member Paul Wilson giving communal singing workshops.
On Saturday the festival goes outdoors with a community multicultural picnic from 12.30pm in The Meadows park. Anyone is invited to bring a dish that represents themselves, family and their culture to share. On Saturday at 2.30pm a heartwarming one-man play called Farewell Jamaica will take place in the library (needs booking) about Neville Connor’s Windrush journey as he leaves Jamaica by ship to help rebuild England after the Second World War.
On the last day, on Sunday, a ‘Moomin’ a drop-in storytelling session will take place outdoors in The Meadows bandstand (11am-1pm). The Big Flood story is about adventure, friendship and belonging. Activities at the storytelling session will include traditional Ukrainian dollmaking.
Organisations and services involved so far include Devon Migration and Resettlement Team, West Devon Community Voluntary Services, Tavistock Library, Tavistock Youth Cafe, Wren Music, West Devon Art Workshops, Tavi Stand Up To Racism and many more.
