The countdown is on to a fantastic free fiesta for all the family to round off this year’s sizzling summer and celebrate everything that makes Manchester buzz.
For one day only, on Saturday 1 September, the Festival of Manchester will take over Platt Fields Park for a jam-packed programme of family friendly cultural activities and performances, from midday until well after the sun sets.
Community groups from across the city are gearing up to take part in the festival to showcase the very best of their own culture and traditions, in what will be an amazing carnival of culture, colour, and creativity – mixed in with a Manchester mash-up of fun, food, and free things to do.
One of the many different community groups taking part in the day is Amani Creative based in Moston who use arts and culture to bring positive changes in communities.
They will be showcasing arts and culture from local African communities and entertaining the crowds with a mix of live contemporary African music and African drumming and dance.
As well as performances by some of the amazing musicians from the Amani Collective during the day, they will also be holding workshops for anyone – young or old – who wants to learn a few dance steps, have a go at the drums, or join in with the group dance and drumming.
The Amani Community Choir, an intergenerational and cultural cross-over community choir, will also be performing live. The choir sings songs from all over the over the world and in different languages, celebrating friendships and connections between people, as well as helping to promote greater social cohesion.
Emmanuela Yogolelo, Creative Producer for Amani Creatives, said: “We’re really looking forward to sharing our own culture and learning more about others.
“We’ve got lots of local African artists taking part who are very proud of what they do and the festival gives them a great opportunity to showcase their work and also get others involved.
“It’s really important to come together and find out about each other’s culture, because that way communities can focus on their commonalities and strengths – which help make the city better and a great place to live.
“Bringing local people together, connecting them, and hopefully keeping them connected is really important and we want to help with this.”
