Levenshulme Community Festival breaks new records
New records set for attendance and community participation
The festival which is sponsored by a cas:h grant from Manchester City Council and contributions from local traders has attracted close to 10,000 people. With over one hundred and sixty events taking place over the two weeks of the festival featuring some five hundred performers it is now seen as one of Europe’s biggest community events.
One of the highlights of the two week celebration was a international themed outdoor party run in conjunction with the city council parks department, friends of Cringle Fields Park, the festival committee, local residents and ALL FM Radio. It attracted a crowd of five thousand people who came out on a very cold October evening to watch displays of Middle Eastern dancing, Brazilian samba music, Irish dancing displays, Live Rock Music and a massive pre Halloween Fireworks display.
Levenshulme resident and president of the festival Lawrence Hennigan said “This years anniversary festival has shown the true spirit of the community coming together to celebrate the area’s amenities. It was great to see so many different groups working together and the large number of community events staged during the two week celebration. From Faith group open days, to children’s sports events to neighbourhood parties. Live Theatre, Music and Art workshops/exhibitions there was something for everyone. The festival is seen as the ideal template for a successful community celebration and enjoys an international reputation and a very high media profile. We hope the next ten years will be as good as or even better than the last decade of its existence.”
“We want the festival to continue to grow and establish the suburb as Manchester’s true creative corridor. The area has an abundance of talent and a growing army of creative talent, the festival is an ideal vehicle to showcase it. It was great to see so many people talking to their neighbours and socializing together, in these pressing times its important for communities to support each other and respect our differences.”
“Community groups, organizations and individuals are welcome to offer us feedback about this years festival and the ways in which we can improve upon subsequent events. But what we would really is for them to get involved themselves in staging an event, we are always happy to support them.”
For further information about the festival email info@levenshulmefestival.co.uk