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2016
Hounslow, UK
Gabrovo, Bulgaria
Hamburg, Germany
London, UK
London, UK
6 - 7 August 2016
London, UK
Image Courtesy of Dean Wright Photography
The sun shone all weekend on Potters Field Park and More London resulting in a vibrant, successful and hugely attended event on London's South Bank. Everyone celebrated the opening of the Olympics in true Rio fashion with Paraiso Samba, Shademakers Carnival Troupe, Batala London, Kinetika Bloco, Gozart Carnival, Maracuta, London School of Samba, Mandinga Arts, and more, entertaining the crowds with processional carnival spirit! This was a culmination of our European FREEDOM project.
As the sun set on Saturday 6th August, Stelzen Arts, Oakleaf Creativity, Sabar Sounds and Mandinga Arts performed a stunning lit up carnival from London's Design Museum up the riverside. A finale on Potters Field Park was created to a crowd of thousands with the beautiful backdrop of London's skyline - a truly spectacular event!
Couldn't make it that weekend? We've got you covered! Explore Night of Festivals London with our 360 Degree video, courtesy of Cross Cut Media or visit our YouTube channel for more.
Hamburg, Germany
2 - 3 July 2016
Hamburg, Germany
Night of Festivals continued the FREEDOM project delivery in Europe as part of STAMP Festival, The Street Arts Melting Pot, in Hamburg, Germany.
Our partners at Haus Drei (working with our UK artists from Mandinga Arts and our Bulgarian partner, FabriC) put together a fantastic event that brought the city out to the streets and included our Night Time Lit Carnival to celebrate values of freedom and democracy through artistic innovation.
We would like to send an extended thank you to Tom Lanski, the artistic director of the festival, his team and the German artists involved (Stelzen Art, Oakleaf Creativity and Petra Kilian) for making Night of Festivals such an integral part of STAMP.
Hounslow, UK
25 - 26 June 2016
Hounslow, UK
Night of Festivals took to the High Street of Hounslow for the second year, building on the popular reception the ArtReach event achieved in 2015.
A live music stage in Bell Square hosted exciting performances from diverse musicians, both local and from farther afield, drawing huge crowds from passers-by. 4x4 Bhangra created immediate impact, opening the proceedings and getting everyone into the carnival spirit at 10am. Bollywood Brass Band played the popularised songs of Bollywood films that at one stage caused a horde to run down the High Street and join in the dancing to their favourite Bollywood songs! Hounslow Soul Band proved themselves a younger generation of musicians that the Borough can be proud of, whilst another local band, Amigos, played a mix of Reggae, tempting the sun to join them and their homegrown crowd.
A big thanks to our partners and the many individuals, participants and volunteers, who invested in making Night of Festivals Hounslow such a spectacular success - Inspire Hounslow, Cultural Community Solutions, London Borough of Hounslow, Heathrow Community Fund, Feltham Arts, Mandinga Arts, Treaty Shopping Centre, London Contemporary Theatre, Hounslow Arts Centre and Stage Right Productions.
Gabrovo, Bulgaria
14 - 16 May 2016
Hosted by ArtReach’s Bulgarian partner FabriC, artists from Mandinga Arts (UK), Stelzen-Art (Germany) and Oakleaf Creativity (Germany) joined Bulgarian musicians, visual artists and young participants to create an extraordinary event for the town of Gabrovo.
The event culminated with the FREEDOM Night Time Lit Carnival on Monday evening, seen by thousands in the Gabrovo town square, and including ten Bulgarian young people who had learnt to walk and successfully perform on stilts in just two days!
In addition to the presentation of visual artwork by local artist Giorgi Balabanov, and German artist Petra Kilian. The FREEDOM project also commissioned Sunshine Arts, through FabriC, to create a 100 metre long permanent urban art piece as part of the Freedom Wall strand of the programme. UK artist Richard Layzell also performed his Speaker’s Corner live art piece, in collaboration with carnival artists, creating a quirky and captivating street art presentation.
