A one-day festival for the whole community will be taking place at All Saints Church on Saturday 21 May as part of a celebration of local cultures.
During the run up to the festival individual visits have been taking place at grassroots community organisations and places of worship throughout the town as part of a cultural exchange initiative aimed to culminate in the Darlaston Community Festival.
Through creating wider opportunities to network and for the people of Darlaston to learn about each other’s cultures festival organisers hope to develop more events for the future. Organised by the Walsall Multi-faith Forum and funded by Walsall Housing Group the programme of events has also been supported by Walsall Council, All Saints Church, local schools, mosques and temples.
Guests on the day will be given the opportunity to see a showcase of local arts and take part in crafts activities, meet grassroots enterprises, voluntary and third sector organisations and learn about recruitment opportunities with local employers. Opportunities will be given to those who want to showcase or share cultural songs, stories, poetry and dance. It is a family-oriented event that seeks to engage a broad cross-section of the community including newly-arrived and ‘hard to reach’ minority groups.
Gilbert David who is current Reverend of All Saints Church stated: “This will be a great opportunity for faith groups and for those of no faith to throw open their doors and welcome each other into our places of worship. Darlaston has an enviable reputation as a town where different communities get on together exceptionally well. Let us celebrate and build upon this”.
For organisers a key objective of the project will be to see a local interfaith and community organisation similar to the Walsall Multi-faith Forum be established within Darlaston itself. This can then serve to be an important platform for the delivery of similar projects within the town as part of its annual cultural calendar.
For further details please contact Reverend Gilbert David on 07880 710122 or email at gildavid2u@hotmail.com
Paul Salahuddin Armstrong 