Taste of Notting Hill comes to Magna

21st December 2015

A Caribbean Carnival will be coming to Magna next summer with a two week festival which is potentially the biggest event the venue has ever hosted.

The South Yorkshire Carnival Arts Regional Festival is being organised in collaboration with Trinidad and Tobago born creative consultant Debora Alleyne De Gazon. She is the creative director of the award winning arts company Creative Learning Circuit and also the creative director of London Notting Hill Carnival. The festival is targeted at local schools, community groups, dance groups, musicians, designers, culinary artistes and others, and Magna is urging local businesses to get involved, in what will become an annual event. The festival's unique blend of South Yorkshire and Caribbean heritage will promote a range of creative talents and skills for all age groups and cultures. It will take place from Friday 15 July to Saturday 30 July and will include a carnival fashion show, an international calypso concert, comedy festival and food festival among the planned events. The opening night on the 15th will get the fortnight of events up and running, with the final day set to feature a parade during the day and a special closing ceremony in the evening. In between, the festival is set to include theatre shows, exhibitions, workshops, a jazz evening, DJ youth festival and much more to be announced. Debora said: -It's a brilliant approach to foster community cohesion using carnival arts ideas as a medium to plan such a wide variety of events, and bring a Caribbean carnival spirit, to South Yorkshire via Magna. -It will provide the opportunity for the diverse community to explore the profound meaning of carnivals and its creative elements and why they're so popular in promoting the heritage and identity of cultures around the world. We're really looking forward to getting the whole community involved. John Silker, chief executive of Magna trust, said: -It's set to be a great two weeks and we're really excited about having an educational focus as well as an entertaining one which will bring a benefit to the entire region. -It's testament to Magna to have another great event coming here on top of all the other events that we have throughout the year. And the plan is to make this an annual event on the calendar, just like Notting Hill Carnival. Magna, which is housed in the former Templeborough steelworks near junction 34 of the M1, has space that can be hired to cater up to 5,000 people. The venue is also an award-winning visitor attraction with more than 100 hands-on exhibits designed to explore the four elements of air, water, earth and fire. It also hosts regular school trips.