Events across the country mark Windrush Day this Saturday

Events are taking place across Britain this week to mark Windrush Day on Saturday 22 June, the anniversary of the arrival of the HMT Windrush, the ship bringing new arrivals to the UK from the Caribbean, which docked in Tilbury on 22 June 1948.

 A replica Windrush ship will ‘sail’ down the streets of Brixton to Windrush Square on 22 June, where it will become a stage for an intergenerational event with Windrush generation elders and young people sharing their experiences. On Sunday 23 June the square will host 100 members of the elder Windrush Generation and their descendants for ‘The Big Caribbean lunch’ with food, music and storytelling.

 The Windrush flag will be raised at ceremonies in Leeds, Bradford, Liverpool, Manchester, Lancaster, Huddersfield, Nottingham, Sheffield, Northampton, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Southampton, Ipswich, Bristol and London. And the National Windrush Museum hosts a two-day International Windrush conference in London on 19-20 June.

 Birmingham’s Windrush Day Carnival will see a carnival procession led by the Windrush Carnival Queen, as well as live performances and food. With England’s diverse team competing at the Euros, a special Carnival event sees Black football legend Brendon Batson discussing the Windrush legacy for football.

 Sunderland also embraces the football theme during the Euros. The ‘Sunderland Windrush FC’ football team, honouring football’s Black pioneers and encouraging the stars of tomorrow, launches with a match on Windrush Day at the Beacon of Light venue.

 Preston hosts the inaugural Arthur Wharton Cup on Windrush Day, honouring the first Black professional footballer, who played as an amateur for Preston North End in the 1880s. The town’s fabulous annual Windrush Festival is on Sunday 23rd.  Brentford Football Club in West London also hosts a free Windrush family day at the Gtech community stadium.

 Manchester’s Alexandra Park will host a Windrush Day celebration featuring arts, stalls and performances, hosted by the Caribbean & African Health Network. In Leeds, the Jamaica Society Leeds has a series of events, including an evening with Windrush passenger Alford Gardner.

 Patrick Vernon OBE, convenor of the Windrush 75 network, said:

“All over the country people are marking Windrush Day. Everyone’s invited – because this marks an important moment in the shared history of people from every background in Britain.

“We have lost more members of the Windrush Generation this year. But the legacy of Windrush lives on – in Britain’s culture, sport, public services, politics and across our communities.”

 A ceremony in Hackney will commemorate those members of the Windrush Generation who have passed away in recent years.

 A concert, exhibition and ‘songbook’ created by local children is touring Bristol, Birmingham, Liverpool and London, curated by Pegasus Opera Company. A ballet show from Black British Ballet, telling the story of a Caribbean family whose parents came over on the Windrush, tours Leeds, Nottingham, Milton Keynes and Birmingham.

 In Wales on 24 June, Race Council Cymru promise a “vibrant celebration of the Windrush Generation with music, dance, and community spirit!” at Cardiff’s Senedd Building.

 In the East Midlands, a ‘Caribbean High Tea in the Park’ will take our Leicester’s Museum Square (Gloucester also hosts a ‘British & Caribbean High Tea’ on 25 June)

Long Eaton in Derbyshire hosts a Windrush Day event to “Celebrate, inspire and connect”, including the launch of a new Windrush legacy book.

 In Taunton, Somerset, the Windrush Day celebration event with the ‘Band with no name’ promises music, dancing and food on 22 June. And Schools in Cornwall are invited to attend Black Voices Cornwall’s very first ‘Celebrating Windrush ‘76 event’ on Friday 21st June, featuring a 25-piece steel pan orchestra.

 Research for British Future by Focaldata for the 75th anniversary of Windrush last year found that three-quarters (74%) of the public and 8 in 10 people (79%) from an ethnic minority background think that children should learn about the Windrush and how post-war migration shaped today’s society. Teaching this history is most important to the Black Caribbean community, among whom 89% feel it is important.

 Other events around the country to celebrate Windrush include:

·       Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum hosts ‘Daughters of The Windrush,’ its Windrush Day Memorial Lecture.

·       A special screening of the Bob Marley biopic ‘One Love’ with a panel discussion at Newham’s Stratford East Picturehouse on 21 June.

·       Leamington Spa celebrates ‘Windrush in the Shires’ with a daytime event for Windrush generation seniors and a blues party in the evening.

·       A ‘Strictly Caribbean’ dance contest in Luton on 11 August.

·       A Caribbean Carnival event on July 13th in Edinburgh.

·       A series of interactive storytelling workshops for children in Luton celebrating the legacy of Mary Seacole trough the fun character of ‘Nurse Dessie’.

·       A new production, ‘My grandparents, my parents and I’ performed on Windrush Day at the MAC theatre in Birmingham.

·       The Journey of a Windrush Heroine - An Interactive Storytelling Workshop Performance at the Central Library, West Bromwich on 22 June.

A more comprehensive list of events across the UK is available on the Windrush 100 Network website.