Kent Equality Cohesion Council

Tag: Fusion

Gravesham Fusion Festival 2015

Kent Equality Cohesion Council working in partnership with Cohesion Plus with the support of Gravesham Borough Council and Kent County Council Arts Development Unit has arranged the Gravesham Fusion Festival. The event will take place on July 4 at the Gravesend Promenade, Riverside Leisure Area between 12pm and 6pm. The aim of the free festival is to showcase new and emerging culturally diverse artists and to celebrate music and dance from around the world.

There will be a range of culturally diverse artists performing on and off stage and the event is being headlined by bhangra star Jassi Sidhu who will perform alongside the Bollywood Brass Band, leading African ensemble Uzambezi, Bulgarian dance troupe Kitka as well local band What and Sam Smith tribute Joe Scripps. In a change to the published programme Slovakian band Gejza will be performing rather than Rebel.

The festival will also feature the premier of “Samba Bhangra Beats” a new performance put together by Cohesion Plus working with Bollywood Brass Band, Four by Four Bhangra Group and Bloco Fogo Samba.

There will be drama also for the first time on the Fusion stage with Cohesion Plus working with 2Bscene Theatre Company on a new production working with young people from the borough.

The event is being hosted by popular comedy duo Payne and Pearce. There will also a food zone which is being delivered by the Cheese and Chilli Festival.

In addition to the Fusion Festival the Promenade will also play host to the Gravesend Town Regatta, a fun fair and the climax of the Northfleet Carnival.

Gurvinder Sandher the CEO of the Kent Equality Cohesion Council commented “We are pleased that our months have hard work have paid off with a fantastic day planned for the Fusion Festival. This event underlines what we are trying to do, namely to bring communities together and celebrate all that binds us. We hope that this event will build upon our recent very successful Saint George’s Day celebrations in the borough. With all the other activities taking place at the Prom at the same time this promises to be a great day out for the communities of Gravesham with the Regatta, Summer Queen and climax of the Northfleet Carnival.”

Fusion Festival Poster 2015

12 June 2015
Fusion and Light Festival Enjoyed in Wrotham 2014

The Wrotham Festival of Fusion and Light which took place on October 17 proved to be a great success attracting record numbers. Organised in partnership by Kent Equality Cohesion Council, Cohesion Plus and the Four Schools in the Pilgrims Way Partnership; Saint George’s Primary School, Platt Primary School, Trottiscliffe CE Primary School and Stansted CE Primary School the festival took part in 2 distinct phases. The lantern parade element through the village launched the celebrations. The parade was led by the Mayor of Tonbridge and Malling Cllr Sasha Luck and the Vice Chairman of Kent County Council Cllr Mike Harrison along with invited guests. They were followed by the schools who had been working hard with arts organisation Same Sky on the lanterns which were based on the theme of harvest. The parade also featured stilt walkers, Four by Four Dhol Drummers and Under1Sun Samba Group.

Once the Parade reached its conclusion at Wrotham Cricket Ground there was a fusion Stage Show featuring performances by leading culturally diverse artists and emerging local artists including comedy duo Danny and Dan, Four by Four Bhangra Dancers, Reel Eire Irish Dancers and vocalist Ryan Bennett. The event climaxed with a short fireworks display organised by Phoenix.

According to Gurvinder Sandher the CEO of Kent Equality Cohesion Council “We were very pleased with the how the Festival of Fusion and Light was received in Wrotham. The event has made great strides from last year and this was testament to the hard work put in by all the different partners. We hope next year to build upon this success and continue our partnership working in Tonbridge and Malling.”

7 November 2014
Wrotham Festival of Fusion and Light (2014)

Kent Equality Cohesion Council working in partnership with Cohesion Plus and the Four Schools in the Pilgrims Way Partnership; Saint George’s Primary School, Platt Primary School, Trottiscliffe CE Primary School and Stansted CE Primary School have organised the Wrotham Festival of Fusion and Light which takes place on October 17^th in the village of Wrotham.

The Festival will take place in 2 distinct phases. In the first part between 6.15pm and 6.45pm there will be a lantern parade through the village involving around 250 young people which will be led by the Mayor of Tonbridge and Malling Cllr. Sasha Luck and the Chairman of Kent County Council Cllr Peter Homewood. The lanterns will be created by the young people in special workshops in schools which are being delivered by the leading arts company Same Sky. The parade will also feature stilt walkers, Four by Four Dhol Drummers and Under1Sun Samba Group.

Once the Parade reaches its conclusion at Wrotham Cricket Ground there will be a fusion Stage Show between 7pm and 8.30pm featuring performances by leading culturally diverse artists and emerging local artists including comedy duo Danny and Dan, Four by Four Bhangra Dancers, Reel Eire Irish Dancers and vocalist Ryan Bennett. In addition there will be locally produced refreshments available.

According to Gurvinder Sandher the CEO of Kent Equality Cohesion Council “We are looking forward to this community celebration in Wrotham. A lot of hard work has gone into this and we are grateful to all our partners for their help and support. We believe that events like this are an excellent way for communities to come together and to celebrate all that unites out regardless of age, faith, ethnicity or social background.”

Click on poster for larger view

14 October 2014