Six Towns Carnival is back!

From Urban Wilderness CIC

This Sunday, 14th July, 11am – 7pm in Hanley Park

This FREE event welcomes families into Hanley Park for traditional Caribbean celebrations! All ages and cultures are invited to experience the exhilarating Caribbean carnival parade, sound systems, steel pan, Carnival dance, drumming and craft workshops and world food including jerk pans, curry and rice, and Thai food. The packed programme for the day also offers a Main Stage from 11am – 7pm celebrating regional soul, reggae, rap and spoken word, and Warwick’s funfair are there all day.

Poster for Six Towns Carnival

School children from St Mark’s Primary School in Shelton have been working with local artists from Kwanzaa to learn the significance of Carnival and learn to make carnival costumes to join in the parade in the Park.

Gabriella Gay, Artistic Director and founder of Kwanzaa, said: “As a Trinidadian by birth but someone who was made by Stoke-on-Trent I believe it’s an honour to bring Caribbean Carnival traditions to the next generation. Carnival is the celebration of unity and joyous resilience in difficult circumstances. Carnival in the Caribbean grew out of resistance to slavery, and has been celebrated in the UK for nearly 60 years in part as resilience against racism. The children at St Marks come from every corner of the world. We created a parade of suns to enjoy the theme Children of the Sun.”

Six Towns Carnival is hosting traditional troupes from region, including M Productions who will lead a Caribbean dance workshop at 2.30pm.

Sarah Chevolleau, Event Director and Director of SABLE, said: “Six Towns Carnival was the highlight of my summer as a child growing up in Stoke and it’s an honour to carry on the tradition of Carnival. My motivation in sustaining Six Towns Carnival is to create those memories for the next generation of children.”

Six Towns Carnival also celebrates work in the community with young people to build confidence and share cultural practices. ‘GIRL SING’ is a confidence building workshop for teenage girls to balance out gender bias in the music industry. The GIRL SING choir will perform on the Main Stage.

Sarah said: “We have programmed the Main Stage with some incredible female singers and we’re delighted to be setting aspirations and providing opportunities for the next generation of girls growing up in Stoke.”

The event organisers ask families to plan their travel to avoid on-street parking around Hanley Park. There is paid parking available at Hinde Street Car Park and Staffordshire University Car Park, a short walk away in Hanley, or please travel by public transport. This event is a family-focused event with no alcohol for sale and alcohol consumption is discouraged by the organisers.