Report on the Future of Cowley Road Carnival

There are exciting developments afoot for Cowley Road Carnival following a wide ranging report on the best options for the ongoing future of Oxford's largest community-run event. Since its beginnings in 2001 the Cowley Road Carnival has been a significant element of the wider regeneration programme for the area run by East Oxford Action. However, with the regeneration programme now coming to a successful end and East Oxford Action spinning off its more commercial activities as separate companies, the East Oxford Action board commissioned this thorough report from independent consultant, Danielle Battigelli, to look into the best ways to take this popular community event forward into the future.

The report is downloadable here

The report found widespread support for the event and came up with a number of options for the future. The preferred approach is for Carnival to be run by an independent charity, which is to become a dedicated events organisation. Cowley Road Carnival has been funded from hard-won grants and sponsorship from supportive organisations such as BMW, Oxford City Council and the Arts Council, and one advantages of the charity is that it will be able to access more types of funding than have been available up to now. The East Oxford Action board had secured funding from the Arts Council for the development of the charity which, over the next four months,will be used to put in place, the administrative structures that are needed to attract the necessary funding and to run successful events in the coming years.

There are already plans for an event in July 2009, but the exact form this will take will be dependent on the funding available, timing and public support. An interim board is currently working on this, but there will be a need for more people to get involved.

East Oxford Action's Company Secretary Zoe Brooks commented “The most important job will be to recruit a management board and more volunteers from the different local communities, who have the skills and commitment to manage and deliver the Carnival for many years to come.

People interested in following the latest developments or reading the report can visit the Carnival blog on http://cowleyroadcarnival.blogspot.com/

Paper on Carnivals and Regeneration

A paper written by Zoe Brooks for East Oxford Action on Carnivals and Regeneration is now available for download - Carnivals and Regeneration - EOA Information Sheet 8

The paper was written to support last year's DTA conference at Oxford Town Hall, which had Carnival as its theme. The paper uses the lessons learnt from the Cowley Road Carnival and covers, positive branding, economic development, CSR, community cohesion, community involvement and educational benefits.

Carnival Video

As part of a Heritage Lottery-funded project East Oxford Action commissioned a video of the Cowley Road Carnival 2008. The whole project explores the different cultural traditions of carnival in the communities of Oxford, especially the Polish, Czech, Brazilian, Albanian and Trinidadian traditions.

The video interviews local people about the Carnival and what it means to them. You can see it and a slideshow of the project exhibition on http://www.vivacarnival.net/

2008 Carnival - A Great Success

Despite the rain over 20,000 people turned up for the 2008 Carnival. Here are some of photos of the day.

Czech Carnival Musicians - Masopusters. A great hit with the ladies!



The giant puppet skeleton created by local artists in a workshop by Mandinga.


Spirit of Cowley Road Giant Puppet


Another skeleton.


Oxfordshire Bangaldeshi Association's tiger.

GET INVOLVED!!!

With only 6 weeks to go until this year’s Carnival, there are lots of ways to get involved, both on the day and before hand. Whether it’s making giant puppets in one of the community workshops, being part of the colourful procession or helping as a volunteer on the day, there’s something for everyone to do.

Workshops are taking place at

- Professional artists' workshops with Mandinga Arts on 27, 28 May and 26-27 June at Fusion Community Arts Centre, Princess Street.

- Bengali Tiger: with Emily Cooling and Emel Yilmaz at Rose Hill Children's Centre on Saturdays 7th, 21st, 28th June.

- Venetian Puppet with Groovy Su and Bill Frizell at Donnington Doorstep Family Centre on Saturdays 21st and 28th June.

For more information on workshops contact Camille Baziadoly at Fusion: Camille@fusion-arts.org

The procession is back to kick off the carnival leaving from the Plain at 12.00 and it’s not too late to be involved! This year’s theme is masks, so whether you’ve got a Venetian carnival mask, an African tribal mask or a Dracula mask, bring it along and join the procession. If you or your group want to be involved you need to be free from 11.00 – 1.30 on the day. Please email the procession coordinator: procession@inevents.org for more information.

As ever volunteers are needed for stewarding, stage managing and generally to help make things run smoothly on the day. There will be plenty to see and do whilst on duty, so you won’t miss out on the fun! Not only will volunteers be part of this exciting community event, there will also be goodies on offer including a free meal from a local restaurant and a VIP pass to the official after carnival party at the Regal. Email the Carnival Coordinator carnival@eastoxford.com to sign up for volunteering.

Come on, you know you want to be part of it!

CARNIVAL IS COMING!!!

GET YOUR MASKS OUT! SUNDAY 6 JULY

Calling all the girls and boys, Carnival is just a matter of weeks away now...

We have had over 100 requests to play on one of the 5 stages and the office is full of demo CDs so NO MORE PLEASE!!

The stalls are almost full, there is just one week left to get your interest in on this, email Rob stalls@inevents.org to register your interest.

There will be much more of the loved activity at this year's event, with Street Theatre, market stalls from around the world, children's activities, dance and music performances how can people not love this day!??

If you would like to get involved then we are still looking for more volunteers to help raise much needed funds for Carnival. email carnival@eastoxford.com if you can help.

Keep your eyes open for information on workshops and much more carnival fun!

2008 Carnival July 6th - how to contact us

Cowley Road Carnival will be back on Sunday July 6th 2008.

If you want to get involved contact:

• for general info email info@inevents.org or carnival@eastoxford.com
• if you want to have a stall at the Carnival email stalls@inevents.org
• if you are interested in performing at the Carnival email music@inevents.org
• if you want to take part in the procession contact info@inevents.org.

We need your feedback!

We are already turning our thoughts to 2008 so please get in touch with any thoughts or comments on this year and how it went...

What worked really well?
What did you enjoy?
What didn't work so well?
What would you want to see in future years?
What do you not want to see or hear again next year?
Who do you think should be performing?
Who wasn't there that should have been?

Any comments, gripes, moans, praise, suggestions to this blog or carnival@eastoxford.com

If you don't tell us we can't make it happen!

Carnival a Rip Roaring Success!!!

A huge thank you to everyone who came, helped, supported, worked and otherwise helped make the day a huge success. More than 2005? About the same? Either way one of the biggest and most varied events ever seen on the Cowley Road and that is all thanks to over 1000 people who danced, played, sponsored, cooked, managed, volunteered, stewarded, and helped out in so many ways!

There are also some fantastic photos starting to come in... Many thanks to Kate Raworth who has posted some fantastic pictures on her site.

http://www.kateraworth.com/cowleycarnivaltops/index.html

Community/Freedom Stage Line-up

Bartlemas Road will play host to an eclectic and vibrant mix of musical styles and influences...

1.00 Ark-T

2.20 Oxford Drum Troupe - African percussion
Oxford Drum Troupe plays and teaches the rich, rolling rhythms that are traditionally heard at ceremonies and celebrations in West Africa, with occasional flavours from other parts of Africa. They play djembes, dun-duns, hand percussion and balafon.
http://www.southoxford.org/activities/odt.html

2.30 Soleil D'Egypte - Egyption belly dancing
Soleil d'Egypte, the bellydancers from Oxford with a sparkle in their eyes and a shimmy on their hips! They bring a really unique bellydance experience.
http://www.soleildegypte.com/

3.00 Sugar Brown Calypso

3.30 AMV - Indian/French fusion

4.00 Redemption Song - with MC intro from Gary Smith

4.10 Haula Nakakembo - singing

4.25 Spencer Sinini Ngwenya - Simbabwean Dance and Song

5.00 Oxford Gospel Choir - Caribbean/ African non-religious singing
A mixed ability community choir that gives everyone the opportunity to sing Gospel and Contemporary songs, brought together by the love of music and the enjoyment of singing as a form of entertainment. They are open to anyone whatever their age, ability or faith. The choir is led by Jules Francis, a professional singer and student.
http://www.oxfordgospelchoir.org.uk/aboutus.htm

5.30 Sol Samba - Brazilian/ Cuban Samba
Vibrant, colourful, exhilarating and LOUD, Sol Samba headline the Freedom Stage and end the day with a hearty BANG! Sol Samba is a community samba band based in Oxford.
Their current repertoire includes original and traditional pieces based on Samba Reggae, Maracatu, Afro-Samba, Samba Duro, Batucada and Baião.
http://www.solsamba.co.uk

Check out more line ups on an earlier post!

Carnival’s Procession is back!

Carnival’s Procession is back! Come and join in on 1^st July.

Here’s how:

Carnival workshops for 2007 are now in full swing. There are lots of open workshops for the Procession to drop in to – come along and help celebrate our themes of fire, 1,000 years of arrivals to Oxfordshire and commemorating the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

1,000 years of Oxfordshire at the Scrapstore…

Be inspired to make a ‘wearable’ plane, train or boat to show how you might have arrived to Oxfordshire! The Orinoco Scrap Store, Peat Moors off the Slade www.oxorinoco.org 761113

Saturday 23^rd June 11-4 drop in workshop,

Sunday 24^th Orinoco open for ideas and scrap;

Saturday 30^th June 11-4 drop in workshop. FREE.

Procession Puppets!

The newly created Barracks Lane Garden will be opening its’ doors, where Cath Connolly will help make huge figures for the procession! Sign posted from Barracks lane (top of Kenilworth Avenue, off Cowley Road)

DATE: Saturday 23^rd June 10.30am - 1pm or 2pm – 4pm Drop ins. FREE

The Procession will leave the Plain at noon, setting a trail along the Cowley Road to SS Mary & John Churchyard.

It starts at the Plain end of the Cowley Road at 12 noon. It takes one hour to process and finishes at the large church called SS Mary and John opposite Divinity Road. It will turn into Leopold Street, so everyone can drop their costumes and instruments and then move away in a one way flow along Green Street back to the Carnival.

It would be really nice for the look of the Procession if the families from the drop-in workshops who made crowns could be immediately behind East Oxford Primary School, as they will also look similar. This will be towards the end of the line up, and will be signed on the street in a traffic cone, so please look out for that and assemble there in your costume. Remember to wear red, orange or yellow as fire colours!

If you went to the Orinoco workshop, look out for a signed traffic cone with “Orinoco Scrapstore Families” on it and that’s your slot – hopefully you will be nice and obvious from your costume and a steward will help you if you have difficulty.

The church grounds have a large stone memorial and this is a handy meeting point for families.

To book your place, and for more information on the procession and workshops contact Henrietta Gill henriettagill@yahoo.co.uk or phone 01865 200 780. Support your local school and come and watch at 12.

www.cowleyroadcarnival.org

COWLEY ROAD CARNIVAL : JULY 1^ST 12-6pm 2007

Oxfordshire’s largest community event!

Job Vacancies

East Oxford Action - the organisers of the Cowley Road Carnival

Want to recruit two people…

A Carnival Education Officer - Heritage Lottery Fund

An exciting opportunity to explore the different traditions of Carnival in Oxfordshire.

22 hours per week for 18 months to start ASAP. £25,253 Pro Rata

A Carnival Development Worker - Arts Council

The Cowley Road Carnival is the largest community event in Oxfordshire. We want someone to develop stronger community links and widen participation.

22 hours per week for 6 months to start September 2007. £25,253 Pro Rata

Deadline for both jobs Friday 6^th July.

Email adrian@eastoxford.com or phone 01865 203367 for an application pack

Line-ups announced!

OX4 Stage, live on air with OX4 87.9FM


Located in the car park behind Blockbuster Videos the OX4 Stage features some of Oxford’s finest bands, a diverse pick’n’mix of new music and firm local favorites, through Indie rock, Alt. Country, Dance & Reggae..
Plus Oxord’s new local radio station OX4 FM broadcasting live throughout the day, with on air DJ slots from OX4 FM DJs in between the live acts! Tune in on OX4 87.9FM


Confidential Collective
Oxford’s favourite instrumental dance band return with new sounds & new singers.


The Quarter Finals
Young Oxford three-piece playing snappy New Wave Power Pop!


Borderville
Glam musical-theatre collage of classic rock’n’roll music and sparkly new bleeps all woven into a big concept narrative, one of the brightest stars on the local rock scene!


Raggasaurus
Sensational seven piece reggae/dub/ragga band with an Arabic vocal


The Epstein
Spectacular and uplifting young Alt Country band guaranteed to get you dancing!


Makating
Oxford’s legendary Reggae band make for the perfect way to end the Carnival in style!

Acoustic Stage

Michael Henry & Friends 1.00pm-1.30pm
Traditional Irish Music & Song

Joe Allen & Angharad Jenkins 1.45pm-2.15pm
Talented singer songwriter with stunning electric violin accompaniment
Myspace link

Matt Sage 2.30pm-3.00pm
An inspirational songmaker and performer playing with local heroes Colin Fletcher, Barnabas and Jane Griffiths.
http://www.myspace.com/mattsagemusic

Mr Shaodow 3.15pm-3.45pm
Burgeoning talent in this Urban vocalist & rapper
http://www.myspace.com/mrshaodow

Maria Ilett and Friends Acoustic 4.00pm-4.30pm
Trip-pop lo-fi electro-jazz sweetness!
http://www.myspace.com/mariailett

Anton Barbeau 4.45pm-5.15pm
Oxford/ Sacramento singer & psychedelic pop genius with friends
Myspace link

Brickwork Lizards 5.30pm-6pm
Modern songs in a pre war jazz and country style with rap interludes and arabic influences!
Myspace link


All times ans performances are subject to change!

Carnival gets a myspace

Not only is there a facebook.com event dedicated to the Cowley Road Carnival (with more than 700 confirmed guests, let's see if we can get it over 1,000!), we have now got a myspace site that includes some sample track of the groups who will be performing.

The deadline has now passed and bookings have all happened, if you sent a request to play in then you will hear from us in the next few days - but please, no more requests! The stages are full to bursting!

Carnival needs YOU!!!

Plans are coming together for Carnival. We have now confirmed 5 stages and 5 sound systems that will be playing a fantastic range of music from around the world. All stage performers have given their time for free, which is fantastic as Carnival would not be able to happen without volunteers... but we need more!

We are looking for people to come along and help out on the day. This may be stewarding in the SS Mary & John Churchyard where children will be getting messy with crafty workshops, or helping manage crowds around the skate park where there are sure to be some impressive moves.

Shifts are 3 hours long, you will be provided with a Carnival Crew top, and if you're lucky you may even have a radio! Shifts are 11am – 2 pm, 1.30 – 4.30 pm or 4.00 – 7.00 pm. If you can spare 3 hours and fancy helping support Oxfordshire's largest community event then email carnival@eastoxford.com NOW!!

All volunteers will be entered into a prize draw that includes meals vouchers, passes to clubs, VIP tickets and much more.

Stalls etc at the Carnival

Anyone interested in having a stall at the Carnival this year should contact Alex Grant on Alex@eastoxford.com or 01865 203367. A commercial stall costs £300 plus VAT. Community groups non-trading £25, trading £50. Face painters & small traders £50. If electricity is needed this will be charged at £50.

All applications will need to be on the form which Alex will send you.

More on Taking to the Streets

An evening of talks, film and discussions around outdoor performance. Talks by Trevor Stuart (Avanti Display), Liz Pugh (Walk the Plank) and Simon Chatterton (Luminox). Plus Luminox the video/

Wed 16 May 7.30 - 9.30pm, Magic Cafe, Magdalen Road, Oxford

Build Big Bad Beautiful Bike Bugs

Come and join us making enormous bicycle-powered beasties for the Cowley Road Carnival.

To register an interest in the workshops (to be held in June) contact Dan or Alexis at the Cycle Workshop for more info on mail@oxford cycleworkshop.co.uk 01865 204799

Oxford Street Band - wants you

Do you play a brass or reed instrument? Want to play a mix of jazz, reggae, New Orleans & east-european music? Regular Tuesday evening rehearsals leading to the first gig at Cowley Road Carnival.

Contact Simon Chatterton in 01865 767830 or simon@simonchatterton.co.uk

The Procession Themes and Workshops

Themes this year are 1,000 years of arrivals to Oxfordshire; Fire! and the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.

We are going to be putting together packs for Children's Centres and Schools that will have sheets on 'how to make an African Carnival Mask' in them!

There will be workshops, however they will be limited in number. Details of these will be on the website in the next few weeks.

People wanting to be in the procession should email Henrietta on henriettagill@yahoo.co.uk