Commonwealth Games 2022: Castle Vale celebrates community in neighbourhood festival

Crowds of people took to Farnborough Fields in Castle Vale on the first day of the Commonwealth Games festival on Thursday evening (28 July).

Mothers pushing strollers, families sitting on picnic blankets, youngsters jumping around - the scene was set for a very family affair. Live site producer, Lateesha Johnson, 31, said nothing ever comes to Castle Vale and that ‘it’s great to be able to produce a festival at this scale for the community.’

Tents were set up around the perimeter of the field where various grassroot-organisations had set up shop. The focus was on children, engagement, and teaching them about the world at large.

The Rep theatre Birmingham used sock puppets and toys made of recycled materials to tell stories to children. Instead of talking at them, Becky Reidy, from the theatre, ensured the children participated in the telling of the narrative.

Lorraine, Demi, and Louise of the UP Creative Community, dazzled in their colourful outfits while they taught children how to stitch cute things up with rags and clothes no longer worn. They also did the Conga with the children around fields. The three ladies were like Pied Pipers to whom children swarmed to like moths to a flame.

One of the mom’s who sat patiently on a picnic blanket with two daughters said she had come all the way from Wolverhampton to see her son perform.

She said: “This is a nice peaceful evening with my children.” Another mother, Siniad, a local resident, stood at the back with her three children, waiting for their “nan” to catch up.

The pandemic had kept them indoors for the last couple of years and they were glad to be out in the open for the summer on a weekday. “We usually don’t get out much,” said Siniad.

The community festival had a variety of activities for children to participate in to get them moving and thinking. Squash, Judo, Tai Chi, theater, arts and crafts, great food, and calming musical performances. The Ascension Dance group transformed the open field to their stage as they used pipes and props to put up a creative dance set.

The evening began with a medley between a choir and Indian music. The Sanchita Pal ensemble dazzled in brightly coloured outfits such as yellow sarees and blue kurtas. The proud parents of the children who were performing stood around waiting to get the perfect photograph of their kids.

Dj and poet, Q Sermon, waited patiently on a bench soaking in the sun in her bright outfit before going up on the stage to perform.

Bring the Power programme by British Council, Commonwealth Sports, and the Birmingham City Council, taught children about the lives of other children in the Commonwealth countries and territories. They had flags and fact sheets about Jamaica, Nigeria, India, to name a few.

What brought the ideal of the programme together was the “Back Home” photo gallery. It held portraits of people, either immigrants or who were born here, who had a home away from the UK.

There was a homeland they had left to come in search for a better life. For Lateesha, who was born in UK, back home is Jamaica. Her “nan” and grandfather still live there and she is not the only one.

There are many of us who have a back home, and the community festival in Castle Vale honoured the heritage we hold within ourselves.

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