"A fusion of art, music, dance, food and discussion to celebrate and share ideas for challenging climate change."
The Akashi Festival
Photos of the event - Saturday 27 October 2007 at The Junction, Cambridge
^ The crowd in the foyer of The Junction ^
^ Andy Brown measures the Mayor's carbon footprint ^
^ Adam speaks about climate change in the opening of the festival, with members of Good Vibrations commuinity choir singing behind him ^
^ Akeelah girls group sell gifts made from old saris, glasses and jam jars ^
^ Janaki Mehta runs a Bollywood dance workshop (centred around a song about rainfall) ^
^ Adding to the Climate Change art mural ^
^ DEFRA climate champion for London Aazim Ihsan get to grips with waste ^
^ A conversation circle about applying faith teachings to challenging
climate change ^
^ 'Dance is a language common to us all, bringing people together to have fun and exercise in a non-polluting way' - Della runs a street-style dance workshop ^
^ Climate change henna painting with Jyoti Mehta 'I'll have a sun, a flower, a tree and an energy saving lightbulb, please!' ^
Saturday 27 October 2007 at The Junction, Cambridge 2-6pm
Download event poster (pdf)
The Akashi Festival – a fusion of culture, community and environment
On Saturday 27th October, over 350 people from a range of cultural and faith backgrounds attended the Akashi Festival at The Junction in Cambridge. The participants engaged in a range of activities, from conversation circles to creating art murals and henna painting, from Bollywood and hip hop dance workshops to measuring personal carbon footprints!
The programme included speeches, cultural performances and creative workshops to explore what we can do about climate change in innovative and inclusive ways. An exhibition featuring a diversity of local people’s views was also unveiled on the day. And of course there were food stalls selling yummy cakes and samosas!
Inspired by teachings, stories and art forms from around the world.
Climate change is a problem already affecting people from all over the world. The solutions can come from all over the world too. Many cultural and faith traditions and stories teach that living without wastefulness and harm to our natural environment is desirable.
Shilpa Shah, coordinator of the Akashi Project, said ‘The UK is blessed with a wealth of different cultural and faith communities with roots and connections all over the world. The message of the Akashi Festival is clear - whilst climate change can be a scary issue, all of us can do something to help, through reducing our own carbon footprints and through talking to as many people as we can about it. And all of us can take inspiration from stories, teachings and art forms from all over the world.
Rosemary Randall, director of Cambridge Carbon Footprint, said ‘Environmentalists have usually been too pressured by their work and resources to engage people beyond their familiar audiences. The Akashi Festival and Project have shown that there is an eager and interested audience among people outside this comfort zone - people in the UK whose roots and connections all over the world make them key players in the debate and actions needed to tackle climate change’
The Mayor of Cambridge, Councillor Jenny Bailey, officially opened the festival. She said ‘Climate Change needn’t be a boring topic. As today’s event showed, it can be explored in a fun way that is relevant to our own particular lifestyles and values.’
Additional funding for this event has been provided by Awards for All.
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