TOP PICKS: Oxford Windrush Festival includes week of theatre, dance, music, art, workshops and storytelling from Saturday

Oxford is marking Windrush Day 2021 with a week-long festival of family-friendly events organised by the Oxford Windrush Group, starting this Saturday which includes theatrical performances, talks, workshops, exhibitions and more.

WHAT TO SEE AND DO: Here are our top 3 picks.

1. Saturday June 19, 10am-3pm, Templars Square shopping centre in Cowley – A day of family-friendly events. Try the ‘See, Think, Wonder, Create’ taster workshops, story-telling, performance demonstrations, and even a carnival with steel pan, African drums, and dancing! Discover fascinating objects and specimens from the museums and gardens of the University of Oxford and get creative with art and crafts activities supported by Museum of Oxford and Oxford Brookes University. No booking necessary, drop in throughout the day. 

2) Saturday June 19, 7pm, at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford – Local theatre troupe Unlock the Chains Collective will perform ‘Still Breathing’ using a fusion of dance, music, song and spoken word to explore collectively felt hopelessness, deja vu, resilience and a renewed spirit of hope in the struggle for racial equality, justice and freedom in light of the Black Lives Matter Movement. Admission to the performance is free but booking is essential. Click the link to book tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/still-breathing-tickets-158730522265

3) Saturday June 19, The Caribbean Living Room Exhibition at 58 Between Towns Road, Cowley, 10am and 4pm. Originally created by local groups ACKHI and BK.LUWO to mark the 70th anniversary of the docking of the SS Empire Windrush, this reconstruction of a typical 1960s West Indian front room has proved extremely popular and is now in its third year of running!

It will be then be open between 10am and 4pm on June 22-24. Learn about the experiences of the Oxford Windrush Generation, find out what people wore on their journey to England and explore a 1960s Afrikan Caribbean living room. No booking necessary, just drop in. Exhibition is free with donations welcome. 

A number of other events will be taking place during the week to mark Windrush Day 2021 in Oxford. Visit the Oxford Windrush Group Facebook page for more information: https://www.facebook.com/oxfordwindrush