Melissa on the road: World Refugee Week: Bristol's Festival

05/06/2023

World Refugee Week: Bristol's Festival - June 2023

As faithful readers here know, I have been covering refugee issues for years, since I joined the BBC World Service in 2009, then from Kenya in 2010-12, from Iraq, from the UK, France and Italy, and up until last year when I reported about the refugee food festival in Marseille.

From England, I wrote a piece on the Bristol Refugee Festival in 2019, and discussed the issues on a podcast episode in 2020.

This year Bristol Refugee Festival will take place 12-25 June.

The Festival is run by Jules Olsen and Danny Vincent, and offers a dozen events over a week around World Refugee Day, on 20 June.

The aim: "to celebrate the contribution that refugees and asylum seekers make to the city, create a better understanding of why people seek sanctuary, help overcome misconceptions and promote successful community cohesion."

On 25 June, the first Celebrating Sanctuary event since 2019 will take place in Queen Square, bringing music, dance, food and fun for family.

Here is the global line up of artists performing:

Alphonse Daudet Touna - Cameroonian balafon player

Bahman Salahshour - Iranian singer

The Dovetail Orchestra - Bristol's refugee ensemble

MoYah - Mozambican rapper and afrofusion artist

Nabra - Soudanese oud duo

Tashi - Tibetan music, vocals and dance

The Bristol Griot / kora player Moussa

Koyate with trumpet from David Mowat

Muti Musafiri - hip-hop dance

There will also be events taking place at the Bristol Old Vic theatre and at Arnolfini, including workshops run by Bristol Refugee Artists Collective.

If you're in the city, don't miss it! If you're near, think about going!!

This year has seen disgraceful migration policy discussed at the British Parliament, so refugees need our support more than ever.

Here is the list of events: