Sittingbourne dazzled with colourful lights as the second Swale Fusion Festival of Light took place on Friday 12th October.
The festival was organised by Cohesion Plus working in partnership with Swale Borough Council and Kent Equality Cohesion Council. The Festival began in Sittingbourne High Street with spectacular performances from Bloco Fogo Samba who brought their signature carnival beats to the proceedings as well as a show stopping performance from the Folk in Fusion Drumming Collective and the Stilt Batteristas, as festival goers including Deputy Mayor Cllr Ken Ingleton enjoyed the spectacle.
The Festival then continued with a special lantern parade featuring local residents and 8 local schools that worked with Same Sky, Ideas Test and Big Fish Arts in the build-up. The parade which at its peak had over 1000 people was led by the Deputy Lord Lieutenant Mr Paul Auston and Cllr Nicholas Hampshire and also featured Bloco Fogo Samba, Stilt Batteristas and the Folk in Fusion Drumming collective.
The festival climaxed in Albany Park which was specially decorated for the evening with ocean themed lights where the evening closed with a spectacular firework display.
Gurvinder Sandher the Artistic Director of Cohesion Plus commented “This festival highlighted for me the positive impact the arts can have in bringing communities together. It was so positive to see the smiles on people’s faces as the performances took place on Sittingbourne High Street and as the parade walked by. We worked with some great artistic partners in Swale and are proud of what we were able to achieve.”