Brouhaha festival’s fabulous finish

Aug 6 2007 by Phil Key, Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOL’s Brouhaha International Street Festival came to a colourful and spectacular end at the weekend as 1,800 took part in a massive carnival parade through the streets of Liverpool.

Local and national groups took part in the Saturday parade in giant carnival costumes and huge headdresses.

Marching to a drumming beat, the parade attracted crowds along Princes Avenue after setting out from Liverpool Community College.

The parade theme this year was the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade in Britain, and it led carnival costume designer Ray Mahabir to come up with some of his most extravagant outfits.

By the time the parade ended in Princes Park, two festivals were under way.

The World in Princes Park had three stages, with performers who had taken part in the Brouhaha Festival going through their dance and music paces again.

There were groups from Cuba, Tunisia, Germany, Greece, Martinique, Morocco, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Brazil and the UK among others.

The reggae group Aswad also performed for visitors at the free festival, which included food stalls and children’s workshops.

A second festival, Mela, featured another group of local and international performances including a showcase of asylum and refugee groups. Among those taking part were groups from Turkey, Spain and Morocco as well as Britain’s Hindu Temple Cultural Centre.

The parade and festivals brought to an end this year’s Brouhaha Festival which had been running since July 16, attracting performers from 20 different countries to the city.

Over three weeks they had performed both in the streets and indoors as well as undertaking workshops in various schools and community centres.

Festival director Giles Agis said that each festival over the years had its own personality. “But I can say that this year’s was the most successful. Everyone has been asking for performers to return.”

Despite some damp weather, Mr Agis said it had hardly affected the festival.

“We were very lucky with the weather,” he said.

“On Saturday, it was overcast for both the parade and park festivals and often looked as if it would rain.

“But it never did.”

The festival has expanded its operations outside Merseyside, and equally successful festivals with some of the same performers were held in Southport, Bootle and Greater Manchester.

It all came to an official end yesterday with the One World Festival held in Mesnes Park, Wigan, as the sun shone brightly.

Next year’s festival for 2008 is expected to be even bigger.

“We have just heard that we are one of only five organisations to have bid successfully for finance from the EU’s European Cultural Programme,” Mr Agis announced last night.

It will mean £100,000 injected into the carnival parade and park festival.

“Because so many performers wanted to perform and could not always do so, we are thinking of expanding the park events over two days next year.

“We also hope to stage a special event the day before the carnival parade, leading into it.”

philkey