On August 5 and 6, the theme for the beautiful award winning Handsworth Park will be ‘Balance’. Come and immerse yourself in our park’s unique, festival offering featuring creative sessions and wellbeing workshops. From live street art to captivating and inclusive workshops, the Handsworth festival site will offer high-energy and chilled vibes to visitors who can’t wait to engage with the Games at their local festival.
Plus joining us will be special guest star Luciano Messenjah! After reigning for over three decades as ‘King Of Conscious Reggae Music’, Luciano is still as current and as popular as ever on the music scene. August 6th 2022 marks Jamaica’s 60th Anniversary and as part of our celebrations, the iconic Reggae Royalty has been invited to bless the proceedings on the day. With all-time favourites such as ‘Lord Give Me Strength’, ‘Sweep Over My Soul’ and ‘It’s Me Again Jah’, we know the vibes will be high in Handsworth this Saturday.
Location and Travel Information
Bus Routes: 74, 101, 16, 11A/C
Nearest metro service: Winson Green Metro stop then
101 bus towards Leveretts
Friday 5 August
Main Stage Programme:
| TIME | MAIN STAGE | INFO |
|
12.30 |
Birmingham Commonwealth Orchestra
|
A culturally diverse collaboration and representation of music genres, instrumentation, and traditions from the various countries of the Commonwealth. |
|
14.00 |
Aspire Bollywood
|
Aspire Bollywood Dance combines the latest Bollywood moves to energetic Bollywood songs for an energetic performance . |
|
14.45 |
Muha |
4 piece Ukrainian band producing contemporary Eastern European Music |
|
16.15 |
Aayushi |
Aayushi writes strikingly tender songs, pairing introspective poetry with intimate vocals to create a soulful blend of acoustic folk. |
|
17.00 |
Mind, Music and Movement |
Performance including Indian Classical, Western folk, Garba folk dance and Tai-Chi bringing together varied art forms promoting mental and physical well being for all |
|
18.15-19.00 |
DJ Parm Panesar |
A mixture of South Asian and contemporary, RnB and pop music |
Workshops and Activities:
Throughout the day there will be fee wellbeing, arts, story, environmental, sensory and play workshops for visitors to enjoy.
| TIME | WORKSHOP |
|
All Day |
Hatty Sutton: Flag Making workshops |
|
All Day |
How Were You? Friction Arts workshop |
|
12.15-13.45 |
Black Heritage Street Art workshops with Canaan Brown |
|
12.15-15.15 |
Handsworth Association of Schools: Seeds of Travel |
|
12.30-13.00 16:30-17:00 |
Tai Chi Workshop with Josie |
|
15.00-16.30 |
Black Heritage Street Art workshops with Canaan Brown |
|
15.15-16.00 |
Mind, Music and Movement workshops |
|
18.00-18.30 |
Aspire Bollywood Dance Fitness Workshop |
Activities throughout the day:
Throughout the day there will be dance performances by Ascension Dance, The O'Driscoll Collective and performances from Birmingham rep. Black History Walks will be taking the visitors on a journey of the history of Handsworth with a fee walk around the beautiful park.
| TIME | BY PLAY AREA/ ON THE GREEN WORKSHOPS | INFO |
|
13.30 & 16.45 |
O’Driscoll Collective & Emily Labhart |
ONE% is a 14 minute dance performance featuring the dynamic rawness of Breakin’. Performed by West Midlands based artists Jamaal O’Driscoll and Marius Mates. |
|
12.30 & 14.00 |
Black Heritage Walks |
Black Heritage Walks will take visitors on a cultural history of the events, people and heritage of the area as they walk through Handsworth Park |
|
15.15, 17.45 |
Ascension Dance: Playground |
Outdoor performance that takes movement from contemporary dance and parkour in an exciting 20-minute performance suitable for all ages.
|
|
15.45, 18.30 |
Ascension Dance: Parkour Workshop |
Dance workshops for children and young people (7-14) aimed to get people moving, shaking & creating their own dances |
|
16:30- 17:30, 17.30-18:30, 18:30- 19:30 |
Birmingham REP Storytelling |
An interactive story interactive storytelling and relaxed performances aimed at children aged 3-5 and their families to encourage play and drama within a home setting using songs, stories and simple props.
|
Saturday 6 August
Main Stage Programme:
|
TIME |
MAIN STAGE |
INFO |
|
11.15-11.45 |
Mighty Jamma |
Steelpan player bringing the vibe and sounds of the Caribbean |
|
12.00-12.15 |
Interview with Professor Black |
The master of carnival costumes sharing his history of carnival in Handsworth |
|
12.30-13.00 |
Celebrating Sanctuary: Nifeco Costa |
Nifeco Costa, Singer and guitarist from Guinea Bissau, West Africa, brings beautiful melodies, a sweet voice and an infectious Latin groove! |
|
13.15-13.45 |
African Acrobatics Circus-Bobo-Rawlings, Armah Adams |
African Acrobatics Circus’ blend of acrobatics, street dance, circus skills & more is great fun to watch & even better to take part in! |
|
14.00-14.30 |
Celebrating Sanctuary: Didier Kisala
|
CSB presents local favourite, Didier Kisala from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for an soulful performance of Congolese music. |
|
14.45-15.15 |
Mighty Jamma |
Steelpan player with the vibe and sounds of the Caribbean |
|
15.30 |
DJ Rena Sparks |
A vibrant female DJ bringing a mix of RnB, Soul and reggae music |
|
16.30 |
Dave Wilkes |
Dave Wilkes is a prolific International Poet, and writer of more than 2500 individual poems to date. Dave specialises in writing unique Personalised Poems for people, companies and events globally. |
|
18.15 |
Luciano |
World-renowned “King Of Conscious Reggae Music” Luciano brings the uplifting vibes of Jamaica to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Jamaican independence. |
Workshops and Activities:
|
TIME |
WORKSHOPS |
|
All day |
Glue Collective Sensory, play and participatory workshops |
|
All day |
Nilupa Yasmin's "On Our Way" collage workshop |
|
All day |
Back Home: Vanley Burke Photographic exhibition |
|
11.00-13.30 |
DOR Romanian Diaspora: Faces of Birmingham Exhibition and Body Movement Workshop |
|
14.45-16.45 |
Mixed Rage Workshop with Sevonah Golabi |
|
17.00-19.00 |
Queen of Nothing's Love Letters to Handsworth Workshop |
Play Area Activities:
Activities by the play area will be contemporary dance performances and workshops by Ascension Dance and on the green there will be an opportunity for visitors to meet Perry at 2pm!
| TIME | WORKSHOPS | INFO |
|
11.15-12.00 |
Kash Gill workshops |
Martial arts fitness demo and session for you to join in |
|
12.15-12.35 and 16.30- 16.50 |
Ascension Dance: Playground 1 & 2 |
Outdoor performance that takes movement from contemporary dance and parkour.
|
|
12.45-13.15, 15.15, 15.45 |
Ascension Dance: Parkour Workshop |
Dance workshops for children and young people (7-14) aimed to get people moving, shaking & creating their own dances |
