The parades also involved live music including the Premier Brass Band, the Big Fish Arts Group and the Cultural Beats Dhol Drummers. Both parades climaxed with a performance by Big Fish around Saint George and the slaying of the dragon.

Bill Singh from Cultural Beats commented “The celebrations in Gravesham and Dartford were great despite the poor weather. The atmosphere at both events was really good and everyone seemed to be impressed with the artistic quality of the parades. Much credit needs to go to Cohesion Plus for their hard work in making these events happen.”

The Gravesham event took place in the morning and finished in the Community Square where the crowds were addressed by the Mayor of Gravesham Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi who thanked the children and the community groups who took part and highlighted the importance of celebrating events like Saint George’s Day. The celebrations in Dartford climaxed at the Band Stand in Central Park where the Mayor of Dartford Eddy Lampkin congratulated everyone who took part and thanked everyone involved in pulling the event together.

Gurvinder Sandher the Artistic Director of Cohesion Plus Kent said “I was overwhelmed with the positive feedback that we received not only from those taking part but also members of the public who I spoke to. I believe that it is important for communities to come together and celebrate events like Saint George’s Day and I would like to thank our partners Cohesion Plus, Gravesham Borough Council, Dartford Borough Council and Arts Council England for sharing our vision and helping us make it become a reality. The artistic quality of the event was high and I would also like to thank our artistic partners Samesky for ensuring this was the case.”

Click here to view a video of the Dartford celebrations.

Click here to view images of the Dartford celebrations.

Click here to view a video of the Gravesham celebrations.

Click here to view images of the Gravesham celebrations.

Work has been taking place in local schools over the last 6 weeks to prepare special visual arts and craft displays which will be used during the school parade which will be led by the Big Fish Marching Band. The Premier Brass Band and the Cultural Beats Project.  The focal point of the parade will be a model of Saint George which has been made by local children.

The aims of the events are to celebrate the patron Saint of England and the diversity of Gravesham and Dartford through music and visual arts.

Gravesham Saint Georges Day Celebrations April 23 between 10am and 11.30am

Click here for more info

Dartford Saint George’s Day Celebrations April 23 between 1pm and 2.30pm

Click here for more info

The celebrations has been organised by Cohesion Plus Kent and Kent Equality Cohesion Council supported by Arts Council England, Gravesham Borough Council, Dartford Borough Council and Kent County Council.

Gurvinder was recognised as a London 2012 Cultural Champion for his innovative work in delivering arts projects and supporting the cultural sector in his work with Gravesham Borough Council who nominated him for the award.

Over the past 12 months Gurvinder has been involved in a number of major arts projects in Gravesham including the Saint George’s Celebrations, Big Day Out Gravesham and the Festival of Light as well as similar events in Dartford, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells.

Gurvinder Sandher commented “I am very proud to have received this award from the Government Minister Mr Hurd who complimented me on my work and encouraged me to keep it up. I have always felt that the arts is a good way to bring diverse communities together and I look forward to showcasing this at our biggest ever Saint Georges Day celebrations taking place in Gravesham and Dartford on April 23rd. I am very grateful to our partners Gravesham Borough Council for nominating me for this award”

The Festival of Light was organised by Kent Equality Cohesion Council in partnership with Cohesion Plus with the support of Dartford Borough Council and Kent County Council.

The parade started on the green outside Central Library, it then went onto the High Street, before turning left at One Bell Corner and then head back towards the Bandstand in Central Park. The parade also featured the Bloco Fogo Samba Group and the Cultural Beats Dhol Drummers and was led by a delegation from Dartford Borough Council and Kent County Council including the Mayor of Dartford Cllr. Eddy Lampkin, the Leader of Dartford Borough Council Cllr, Jeremy Kite and Deputy Cabinet Member for Communities at Kent County Council Avtar Sandhu.

The Festival climaxed at the Bandstand in Central Park where the participants were thanked by Gurvinder Sandher the Artistic Director of Cohesion Plus before they were presented with trophies from guests from Dartford Borough Council and Kent County Council.

The aim of the Festival of Light was to bring the communities of Dartford together through the arts, and was been inspired by the Cultural Olympiad which promotes the Olympic values of excellence, respect and friendship and the Paralympics values of empower, achieve and inspire.

According to Gurvinder Sandher who co-ordinated the event “I was very pleased with how the Festival went. It was so good to see young people with their parents and grandparents coming together to take part in the parade and the entertainment at the end. Events like this not only showcase the positive community relations enjoyed in Dartford but also the importance of arts in promoting greater cohesion and understanding. It was so positive to see so many young people directly taking part in the arts. As ever I am very grateful for the support provided by our partners Dartford Borough Council, Kent Police and Kent County Council without whose support the festival could not take place.”

The parade led by the Mayor of Gravesham Cllr Dhesi started from Saint George’s Shopping Centre going through the Town Centre before finishing at the new Community Square outside the Civic Centre. The young people involved carried lanterns and torches which they had made especially for the event and the parade was led by the Bloco Fogo Samba Group and the Cultural Beat Dhol Drummers.

Once the parade arrived at the Community Square, following words of thanks for the schools from Gurvinder Sandher who co-ordinated the organisation of the event and Cllr Dhesi there followed a free concert headlined by popular Michael Jackson Tribute Act Navi. Navi wooed the audience with a catalogue of Michael Jackson hits including “Man in the Mirror”, “Thriller” and “Billie Jean” before flying off to Los Angeles for the climax of the Michael Jackson trial.

Gurvinder Sandher the Artistic Director of Cohesion Plus said “The aim of the Festival of Light was to bring the communities of Gravesham together through the arts, and was inspired by the Cultural Olympiad which promotes the Olympic values of excellence, respect and friendship and the Paralympics values of empower, achieve and inspire. I was really pleased with the positive response that we have had and it was great to see so many members of the community both young and old come out and support this Festival. The artistic quality delivered by Samesky was again very high as was the quality of performance put on Bloco Fogo and Cultural Beats on the night.”

The Festival of Light has been organised by local arts organisation Cohesion Plus in partnership with Kent Equality Cohesion Council with the support of Dartford Borough Council and Kent County Council. The parade will start just on the green outside Central Library, will turn right towards the High Street, going past the Paper Moon Public House, and will then continue along the High Street. The parade will turn left at One Bell Corner and then head back towards the Bandstand in Central Park where the festival will climax with performances by Bloco Fogo Samba and Cultural Beats.

According to Gurvinder Sandher who is co-ordinating the event “I am very much looking forward to the event this Friday. We have been working closely with artists Samesky who have been delivering workshops for us in the schools in the build-up to the festival. The parade through Dartford Town Centre is always colourful and the climax of the parade at the Bandstand in Dartford is very spectacular. We are very fortunate for the support provided to this event by Dartford Borough Council, Kent Equality Cohesion Council and Kent County Council and I hope that the community will come out and support the young people in the parade.”

The aim of the Festival of Light is to bring the communities of Dartford together through the arts, and has been inspired by the Cultural Olympiad which promotes the Olympic values of excellence, respect and friendship and the Paralympics values of empower, achieve and inspire.

The Festival of Light has been organised by local arts organisation Cohesion Plus in partnership with Kent Equality Cohesion Council with the support of Gravesham Borough Council and Kent County Council.

The parade will start up outside the Saint George’s Centre entrance opposite the Tesco store, and will then make its way via New Road and Windmill Street to the Community Square outside the Civic Centre. The festival will climax with a free concert by one of Europe’s leading Michael Jackson tribute acts Navi starting at just after 7pm.

The aim of the Festival of Light is to bring the communities of Gravesham together through the arts, and has been inspired by the Cultural Olympiad which promotes the Olympic values of excellence, respect and friendship and the Paralympics values of empower, achieve and inspire.

According to Gurvinder Sandher the Director of the Kent Equality Cohesion Council who is co-ordinating the event “We have been very pleased with the positive response which we have had from local schools. I believe that the Festival of Light is an excellent example of how the arts can be used to bring communities from across the borough both rural and urban together. I am also very pleased that we have secured Navi who is a well renowned Michael Jackson Tribute Act who I am sure will thrill the crowds at the climax of the festival.”

The Mela weekend was launched with a spectacular parade through the town centre on Friday 9 September in which over 300 young people from 4 local schools; Hollingbourne Primary, South Borough Primary, West Borough Primary and St Francis Primary took part. The parade climaxed in Brenchley Gardens where the Mayor Cllr Brian Mortimer raised the Mela Flag to announce the start of the Mela Weekend.

Saturday evening at Mote Park saw a spectacular night of fusion and colour with first bhangra superstar Sukshinder Shinda performing his urban bhangra sound which had the audience despite the poor weather up and dancing. He was followed by the Counterfeit Beatles who performed all the great hits from the fab four. The evening climaxed with a firework show.

Sukshinder Shinda said “This was the first time that I have performed at the Maidstone Mela and it was a great experience. It is really good for an artist like me promote our bhangra music to a wider audience and expose them to new sounds and songs.”

Sunday was a true celebration of food, music and dance with stage performances from around the world including Raqsonic a local Arabic band, K College who performed different dances from around the world, Merenkurkut a popular Finnish Folk Group, Phase 5 Steel Band, Maidstone Nepalese Group and local group Bollywood Blast. The Mela was headlined by Cohesion Plus who created a special performance involving Four by Four Bhangra, Cultural Beats and Uzambezi and the popular Michael Jackson Tribute Act Navi. In addition to the stage programme there was an array of food, craft, information and cultural stalls which created a real family feel.

Gurvinder Sandher the Artistic Director of Cohesion Plus commented “I have been really overwhelmed with the positive response that we have had to the Mela. Much hard work goes into pulling this event together but all the work is really worthwhile when you get such positive feedback. Our Mela this year coincided with the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and I hope we showed the positive community relations enjoyed here in Maidstone as we had all communities and all ages coming together as one. That for me is such a powerful image and I am very proud of what we along with our partners Maidstone Borough Council and Kent Equality Cohesion Council have achieved. Our artistic content was again very strong and the record crowds reflected that”

Videos:

Cohesion Plus Performance at Maidstone Mela featuring Four by Four and Uzambezi

Sukshinder Shinda at Maidstone Mela performing with the Mayor

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Further information can be found in the following leaflet (click to enlarge).

The Mela was headlined by Bhangra Superstar Jazzy B whose energetic performance was greatly appreciated by the audience. His fusion of bhangra and urban music had the crowd dancing and cheering all the way through his set. He was supported by a number of emerging urban and bhangra acts including PBN, Arminder Nahal and Jai Khan. In addition there was an exciting bhangra clash performance featuring local favourites Four and Four and Brit Asia Superstar Winner Ravi Joshan which was put together by Cohesion Plus.

The chief guest was the Mayor of Dartford Cllr. Eddy Lampkin who spoke from the stage and praised the positive community relations enjoyed in the borough. Alongside the performances on stage there will also be displays and information available on a wide range of local services including Kent Police, Kent Fire & Rescue Service, Rethink Sahayak, Orchard Theatre and Hope Group.

Gurvinder Sandher who organised the Mela commented “I was pleased with the positive response that we had to the Mela. We spent a lot of time putting the stage programme together as we wanted to showcase new and emerging acts such as Jai Khan and Arminder Nahal alongside more established urban bhangra star PBN as well the Crown Prince of Bhangra Jazzy B. We have had a real positive response and I look forward to working with our community partners as well as Arts Council England to deliver an even bigger event next year.”

Watch a clip of Jazzy B performing at the Mela by clicking here