Love Chalkhill Festival Sunday 28th July Noon-8pm

 

Love Chalkhill Festival, Chalkhill Park, August 14th Noon-8pm

 

Neasden Winter Festival Saturday Dec 18th from 3pm

 

Heart of Wembley Festival Saturday July 7th 1pm-6pm

From  Wembley Futures

On Saturday, 7 July 2018 Wembley Futures will be hosting the third annual Heart of Wembley Festival. This vibrant community event will take place from 1pm-6pm on St Johns Road, off Wembley High Road by Primark. St Johns Road will be closed to traffic for the day, allowing the community to reclaim a street in the town centre for the festivities. The theme of this year’s festival is ‘Celebrating Family’, and the festival will truly have something for everyone in families both big and small.

The Festival is one of the activities by Wembley Futures, one of 150 recipient groups across the UK to be awarded funding by The Big Local. A long-term innovative programme that aims to achieve lasting change, The Big Local provides a mixture of funding, finance and support.

The Heart of Wembley Festival will celebrate the diversity and community in Wembley Central through a mix of both local and professional music, talented dance performances, fragrant food, bright colours and vivid fabrics of the performers’ costumes.

The atmosphere will be charged with much vitality and vivaciousness!  Stage will feature music spanning the genres including vintage music hailing from the 1940s and beyond, the sounds of acoustic guitar, and Afro-Brazilian harmonies that recall the band members’ far flung homelands.
Drumming workshops will run all day, their rhythmic beats inviting all festival goers to come and have a try on African drums and the Dhol drums, while dancers will conjure a voyage to countries from Ireland to Nepal and from India to Cuba with intricate, traditional dance performances. For a contrast, contemporary dancers specialising in street dance will also be showing their skills to the festival crowd.

Come and taste the flavours of cooking from around the world, with vendors offering authentic Nigerian, Caribbean, and Hungarian street food as well as a range of both sweet and savoury treats from Portugal, artisan brownies, and delicious cakes. Don’t forget a refreshing drink of fresh coconut as well.

Family activities will abound, with creative craft tables, an artwork display by Elsley School, and fantastic performances from children from Brent Music, Ark Elvin School, Elsely School, and the 360 Theatre group. Become a character, an animal or simply enjoy a gorgeous design with a visit to the Festival face-painters.  With a story area, including books and a storyteller, there will be plenty to carry away the imaginations of all members of the family. Let street theatre artists and magician woo you!

Be sure to cycle up a smoothie and repair your bike, courtesy of Brent Cycling; have a chat with the always-welcoming community stalls, try some aloe products from Forever Living, and stop by the Wembley Futures stall for more details about current activities and upcoming plans for the year ahead. Wembley Central Safer Neighbourhood Police will be on hand to hear any concerns you may have.

Francis Henry, Chair of Wembley Futures, said:

I hope to see both new and familiar faces at the Festival in July. We are building on the success of the previous two years’ Festivals and look forward to a great day out with friends, family and neighbours. Heart of Wembley Festival 2018 promises to be a fun-packed day.

Alperton Summer Festival Saturday July 7th

Alperton Summer Festival 2018
Saturday on 7th July 2018
12–6pm
Heather Park 
(Entry free)

There will be live music, a petting zoo, cricket simulator, face painting and more! (All free of charge, and of course we will be showing the England game live!) We will also be announcing the winners of the My Alperton Postcard Competition and raising money for local Charity and food bank Sufra NW.

Sufra adds:
 
Sufra NW London will be all over the Alperton Summer Festival this Saturday 7 July at Heather Park. As well as our information stall, we will be flipping delicious sweet and savoury pancakes on our new stall - Oh Crepe!

Fryent Country Park Rangeelu Gujerat event next weekend

Part of Fryent Country Park, Kingsbury, will be given over the Rangeelu Gujerat Festival on Saturday 20th August and Sunday 21st August.  The Festival will run from 10am until 8pm.

The London boroughs of Brent and Harrow have the highest number of Gujerati speakers in London and the event is supported by Brent Council.

The organiser's state:

The two day event will provide a large platform to showcase Gujarat's Arts, Literature, Food, Fashion, Music, Dance, Tourism and much more. Visitors will experience an interactive walk through of market stalls, scents,  artisans and street food, live music and a kite event. The folk dancers, along with traditional costumes, perform and there is Gujarati comedy offering back-home jokes and phrases. Rangeelu Gujarat is a celebration of life, festivities and culture of Gujarat. Discover bestowing grace and elegance and gather to experience the diverse traditions and the generosity and hospitality of Gujarati people.

The event will be held on the Upper Hydes meadow and according to an unsigned notice at the park entrance this has been closed to the public until Monday August 22nd. The Fryent Way car park will be closed from August 18th until August 22nd with temporary alternative parking at Richard's West.

See map below:

Neasden? No - Never! Oh yes it is! Neasden festival on Saturday

Kilburn celebrates despite the rain and tennis

Despite grey skies, sudden heavy rain showers and a tennis match on the other side of London, Kilburn came out to celebrate yesterday at the Kilburn Festival.

Tara Brady, senior reporter at the Kilburn Times (pictured), was there with colleagues, once again in solidarity with the local community. This time the paper supported people as they battled with rain and mud, rather than the usual struggles over cuts and closures.

It was good to see all ages and ethnicities coming together, epitomised by communal dancing drawn from Brent's many cultures, and sad to reflect that following cuts in the Festivals' budget there are fewer such opportunities now.