Raras are impromptu carnival parades that may “pop up” at any time in Haiti in the Caribbean between Epiphany and Easter. At its core are a group of musicians blowing deep notes on bamboo vaksin; blaring out a rhythm on motley, hand-crafted trumpets; and beating out high-octane percussion parts. They are often joined by a flowing entourage of singing marchers; ordinary people joining in, having fun and celebrating deep rooted cultural traditions.

Marching in a Haitian Rara amongst a sea of bodies is an extraordinary experience and in response to its loud percussive sounds more and more marchers hurry to join the procession, turning the affair into a joyous, life-affirming celebration.

For Night of Festivals 2012, we have invited the Haitian band Rara Lakay to help us celebrate our special carnival day on Friday 22nd June. After some back and forth with visa and passport applications, Rara Lakay will be arriving in the UK in early June, where they will be sharing their unique tradition with community groups from the Nottingham area.

Still curious? Here’s a taste of a traditional Haitian Rara procession in action:

Audiences, artists and staff can hydrate for free at Night of Festivals 2012. Springing up especially for the event, a drinking water standpipe on Old Market Square will be situated close to the ramp near Long Row. Look out for the first aid station and you should find it easily.

Please feel free to bring your own refill bottles along: you can help to reduce bottled water waste and keep rehydrated without spending a penny. Incidentally, the public toilets on Greyhound Street will be open until 11pm on the three event nights, for those who do need to ‘spend a penny’.


This free, public drinking water resource fulfils a health and safety requirement on the one hand, however, more importantly, it reflects ArtReach’s active commitment to environmental sustainability. We applaud Nottingham City Council’s leadership nationally on climate change issues and thank the officers involved in making this resource available.


Our tap water scheme extends to the carnival procession. Courtesy of City Arts, a team of ‘hydration helpers’ will make sure that none of the 150 performers dancing through the streets on Friday 22^nd June, at 8.30-10pm go thirsty (hopefully it will be a balmy night). Using 40, one litre capacity vacuum-sealed designer bottles, these helpers will serve the performers as they wind their way through Nottingham’s streets in the Haitian-themed Chimera carnival. Floats on the procession will also be stocked with chilled, refilled bottles to ensure there is plenty of drinking water, whilst avoiding plastic waste.

Resources for hydrating the procession with tap water are funded by a Low Carbon Scheme Grant awarded to City Arts, by Nottingham City Council. Following the event, the bounty of high quality, designer refill bottles will belong to local carnival and dance groups to use for their future events. We hope the sustainable water legacy makes an impact on other events.

Utilising tap water in Night of Festivals 2012 is also symbolically linked to our cultural connection with the people of Haiti through the participation of Rara Lakay  in the carnival and sculptors, Atis Resistans .  The quality of tap water and sanitation we have access to in European Union member states is now recognised as a human right by the United Nations.

www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/human_right_to_water.shtml

Many Haitians, particularly in the capital city Port-au-Prince, have been deprived of these human rights as a consequence of the 2010 earthquake, and not only temporarily. The country’s subsequent cholera outbreak – the first for 100 years – has had devastating effects. 3,990 people died from the disease during 2010-11. Figures for the more recent death toll are highly contested because of the failures to thoroughly address the causes of cholera’s spread. ArtReach advocates that Haitians’ human right to accessing safe drinking water and sanitation must be urgently addressed. You can read more about this subject at the following links:

www.who.int/gho/epidemic_diseases/cholera/epidemics/en/index.html

www.usatoday.com/news/health/story/2012-05-04/Haiti-cholera-strain-evolve/54748538/1

www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/04/13/150302830/water-in-the-time-of-cholera-haitis-most-urgent-health-problem

New Years day in England is normally associated with a time of relaxing with friends and family, recovering from the antics of the previous evening, enjoying a bank holiday and persisting in any new year’s resolutions. For Haiti, this is an extremely significant day which marks the declaration of freedom and independence.

Every January 1st since 1804, Haitians have celebrated this day by drinking pumpkin soup, or Soup Joumou. It may appear strange, but it makes sense. You see the French colonial powers forbade Haitian slaves to drink pumpkin soup. They were only to eat bland bread soup. Dishes containing pumpkin, beef stock and other vegetables were seen as extravagant and too good for the people they were enslaving. Since then, the soup has become a symbol of freedom to Haitian people.

Although Haiti is still experiencing economic and social troubles, its fight for equality also isn’t over yet. Celebrations and symbols, like the pumpkin soup, are powerful in giving Haitians the courage to persevere.

Delays in obtaining visas for artists Andre Eugene and Jean Herard Celeur from Haiti threatened to endanger plans for the cutting edge sculpture installation to be delivered by the artists from Atis Rezistans in Old Market Square.
Celeur and Eugene operate their art studio in Port-au-Prince, which was directly hit by the earthquake of 2010 and some systems are still not operating correctly. They had to travel more than 100 miles by bus from Port-au -Prince to the Dominican Republic for visa appointments before the paperwork could be sent on to Kingston, Jamaica for final approval.
However, the good news is that the visas have finally arrived and ArtReach can now get on with organising flights and accommodation for the pair. However, we still wait on news of visas for some members of the Rara processional band Rara Lakay – watch this space!

Download full press release here

Provocative Haitian street sculptors; anarchic Rara processional musicians; breathtaking Latin American carnival; real samba from Rio; short films from six continents in the ArtReach Nanoplex; “one-on-one” Folk in a Box; a fantastic line up of world music live on stage; and a world premiere Michael Nyman film and score on the Big Screen.

Up to date details of the artists involved, the schedule and the opportunities for audiences are available on this site, with more information to follow…..keep coming back!

Night of Festivals 2012 has a great line up of partners including cultural organisations, artists, public sector bodies and agencies Funding has been committed by Arts Council England, Nottingham City Council, Igniting Ambition (through the Legact Trust UK and the European Union) and the Joyce Carr Doughty Trust. Other partners include:

• City Arts Nottingham
• Nottingham Contemporary
• The New Art Exchange
• Stage Right Productions (delivering all technical and infrastructure support)

Night of Festivals 2012 is all about celebrating the values of freedom and independence through artistic innovation. From 21^st to 23^rd June, the streets of Nottingham will be brought to life with dynamic carnival performances, live music, artistic installations and moving image, all created by both national and international artists. A true celebration of global arts!

Watch this space for exclusive artist interviews, articles and interesting stories straight from the ArtReach team….