Free one-day community festival features fantastic world music

The day will feature live music from around the globe, including places such as South Asia, Eastern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

Phill Minns, from Best Foot Music, the organisers of the event, said: “Our city has a long history of welcoming people who have made their homes here, and many people have been actively involved in promoting support and awareness around issues related to migration and refugees.

“The festival will play host to activities and stalls from community groups and charities working to promote inclusion and diversity within Brighton.

“The event is part of a worldwide annual observance called International Mother Language Day, held on February 21, that promotes awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity, first announced by UNESCO in 1999, and formally recognised by the UN in 2008.

“The origins of the day go back to 1952, when students in Bengal demonstrated to have Bengali recognised as an official language. The UN resolution to recognise the day, was originally put forward by Rafiqul Islam,a Bengali living in Vancouver, who wanted to take action to preserve the languages of the world.”

Some of the acts who are already booked to perform on the day include: 4 X 4 Bhangra, one of the country’s leading bhangra dance groups, Kurdish folk musicians BENAV, Polina & Merlin Shepherd who will sing Russian and Yiddish songs, Moroccan musicians Gnawa London, and more to be confirmed.

The event runs from 12-5pm.