Programme launched for the South West’s inaugural DIASPORA! Festival

Programme launched for the South West’s inaugural DIASPORA! Festival

Posted on: 18 Apr 2024

Today launching its full programme, this brand-new festival will take place across the Early May Bank Holiday weekend at almost 40 venues and over 70 events planned with nearly 200 artists.

 

Diverse Artists Network presents DIASPORA! across various venues between Friday 3 and Monday 6 May 2024.

 

DIASPORA! will be an extensive celebration of cultural diversity through art in all its various forms, for all to enjoy. The festival team has been working tirelessly for months to secure venues, collaborations and artists and their vision has now become a reality.

 

Browse the full list of events on the festival website.

 

 

With a focus on community engagement, DIASPORA! aims to platform artists from underrepresented diasporas to perform, exhibit, screen, hold classes and talks on music, visual arts, film, theatre, poetry, dance, crafts, storytelling and more.

 

The result of this eclectic amalgamation is a diverse programme that includes a fireside opening ceremony on Friday 3 May at Trinity Centre, celebrating Bristol’s various cultural communities and their fire-related traditions. Expect music, dance, folklore, poetry and delicious food from the Jamaican hideaway.

 

Iconic venues around Bristol and beyond will be taking part, including Bristol Old Vic, Bristol Cathedral, Museum of Bath at Work, The Watershed, Bristol Ferries, Tobacco Factory, The Greenway Centre, The Plough, ACTA Community Theatre and The Canteen.

Trinity will also host ‘Alkebulan – African Storytelling Village’, an epic day of events from Africa’s many diasporas, from storytelling to hair rapping, dancing and DJs to face painting and food. Bristol Beacon has programmed the legendary Senegalese 9-piece Orchestra Baobab and the one-of-a-kind Indian ensemble Orchestral Qawwali Project.

 

One of DIASPORA!’s organisers, Vandna Mehta, has spoken about the festival, saying:

 

“DIASPORA! is a natural progression of all the work we have done at DAN to create more and lasting connections between artists, venues and communities of culture. With our diligent and dedicated festival team, we really hope to make a difference for the region, to build something special, representative and fun for all.”

Diverse Artists Network presents DIASPORA! between Friday 3 and Monday 6 May 2024 with an eclectic programme of events planned across Bristol and the South-West – browse the full programme from the festival website.

 

DIASPORA! Festival is supported by West of England Mayoral Combined Authority, Arts Council England, Quartet Community Foundation and Bristol City Centre Business Improvement District.

Read more:

 

Article by:

Stanley Gray

Stan is a born and bred Bristolian, recently graduated from studying English Literature in Sheffield. His passions are music and literature and he spends the majority of his time in venues all over the city, immersing himself in Bristol’s alternative music scene. A lifelong Bristol City fan, Stan’s Saturdays are spent watching his team both home and away.