AN INDIAN SUMMER 2013: STEERING GROUP MEETS AT PHOENIX

At Phoenix this afternoon for the first meeting of a steering group working toward this year's celebration of An Indian Summer, Thursday 27 to Sunday 30 June.

Bipin Anand (in photo above, standing) presents a short video to kick off the meeting, recalling some of the highlights of the 2012 event.

The Council of Faiths had a strong presence in the first celebration of An Indian Summer, offering an informal seminar entitled How Diverse is Leicester? We didn't really get the chance to do anything last year. I'm looking forward to us playing a fuller role in the upcoming event.

An Indian Summer is one of just two annual events that take place across the Cultural Quarter (the other being Oxjam). An ambitious and extensive programme of activities will make this third celebration of An Indian Summer the most memorable yet. The absence of Summer Sundae Weekender this year should allow An Indian Summer to make an even bigger impact.

FUN AT CARNIVAL WAS RESTRICTED

This letter appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Fun at carnival was restricted

I would like to share my thoughts with you regarding last Saturday's Caribbean Carnival.

It has been shrunk down to a small area of Victoria Park and had security Guantanamo Bay would have been proud of.

There were cameras watching everything.

I have attended the carnival since the year it began and have enjoyed the atmosphere and the freedom that it inspires.

This year was like something from George Orwell's 1984!

There were guards with metal detectors, searching bags and restricting alcohol to be taken into the site.

"Drink it before you go in," we were advised – by the security guards. So, cans of beer that would last all of the carnival were polished off in 10 minutes!

Better than taking it slowly over time!

Meanwhile, the official purveyors of beer onsite were charging £3 a can.

Mine were 95p from a shop!

Abbey Park music festival ended due to these draconian measures and I can see the carnival going down the same pan.

The site is a public park and a public open space.

Please Leicester City Council, don't tell me how to enjoy myself.

I will not be attending that prison they call Summer Sundae.

Phil Rowe, Knighton Fields

LEICESTER PEOPLE'S PHOTOGRAPHIC GALLERY: OFFICIAL OPENING

Chris Minter, Head of Leicester Adult Skills and Learning Service; Cllr Manjula Sood, Chair of Leicester Council of Faiths; Sven Goran-Eriksson, Manager of Leicester City FC; Nicola Wood; The Birch - Leicester City FC legend Alan Birchenall

This afternoon I attend the official opening of the Leicester People's Photographic Gallery, which occupies most of what used to be the Central Lending Library on the corner of Belvoir Street and Wellington Street.

The old Central Lending Library is a former concert hall, where musical celebrities such as Paganini and Liszt performed in the mid-19th century. The entrance hall of the library was once a cinema, so today's visitor walks through what used to be a cinema into a what used to be a concert hall – then into what used to be a public library until six months or so ago. I ask three people (who should be in the know) what the building is going to be called in its new incarnation – and I get three different answers. For our present purposes, faithful reader, we'll stick with the old Central Lending Library when referring to the building as a whole, to Flint Hall (as it's going to be renamed, after the architect William Flint) for the as yet underdeveloped ground floor (although you have to go up a flight of stairs or take the lift to get to it) and the Leicester People's Photographic Gallery for the first floor, where the photos are. Never mind the temporary Bike Park in the basement! *Phew*

In his laudatory speech today, Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby described this as "a wonderful use for a magnificent building" – and he's right. Reliable sources at BBC Radio Leicester have stated that this is the biggest photographic exhibition space outside London. Apparently the bill presented to Leicester City Council for getting the building into a fit state to be open to the public was no more than £65 – so much has been achieved by volunteers and from donations. Well-deserved credit goes to Ian Davies, the driving force behind this whole enterprise. Thanks are also given to John E Wright, the commercial printers backing the gallery and providing professional presentation services.

The most striking feature in the (soon to be renamed) William Flint Hall is a sand sculpture by Nicola Wood. Nicola's work is well-known around her home city of Leicester and she's been gathering a following and reputation further afield. My kids have seen lots of her stuff and they love it. She did a great sand sculpture of Tanky Thomas at Summer Sundae last month. She's become known nationally as presenter of Deadly Art on CBBC. You can find out more about Nicola Wood on her website.

Prominent among the guests today is Sven-Göran Eriksson, Manager of Leicester City FC (and former Manager of England, of course). His presence brings a certain frisson to the event. Even I (a dyed-in-the-wool Scotland supporter) get unreasonably excited!

Among the refreshments available today, I'm pleased to see Rosie Clarke offering and promoting her Virtuous Bread. Rosie will be making use of the sizeable kitchen on the second floor of the building as part of her social enterprise. She asks me if I’d like a quick look at the facilities there, but then we discover that the kitchen has been taped off to visitors today to deter the more inquisitive among us. Rosie and I discuss how we might be able to collaborate during National Inter Faith Week at the end of November or during the week-long Leicester Speaks event in October. We put our heads together and come up with a couple of good ideas that we hope to able to develop, to our mutual benefit.

I'd like to acknowledge that I've adapted some information from Colin Crosby Heritage Tours for this blog entry.

A nice set of photos from the official opening can be found on Simon Johnson's Perfect Snapz website.

SHARING IS CARING: FLASHMOB IFTAR

At Victoria Park this evening, supporting the "Sharing is Caring" Flashmob Iftar. Iftar is the name given to the evening meal with which Muslims break their fast each day during Ramadan. Similar events were held here during Ramadan 2010. They were successful and attracted some positive media attention; I only got to go to the last of the weekly meetings though. I'm glad to see this return and I'm keen to see how it goes this year.


Harry, Grace and I have been down to De Montfort Hall and Gardens to get our wristbands for Summer Sundae Weekender, checking out what's happening onsite the night before the festival proper begins tomorrow. It's just a short step over to the Pavilion, where the Flashmob Iftar is taking place. The point of this is to extend charity and hospitality to some of the people who virtually live in Victoria Park or who are based in some of the hostels nearby. I used to teach in some of these hostels, when I worked for Leicester City Council's ReMit and Reach programmes, so I'm interested in this event from more than one perspective. I'm also happy to get Harry and Grace involved.


There are more people here this evening than I recall being at the one I managed to attend last year - both from the local Muslim community and the intended beneficiaries of the event. There's more of a mixed turnout in terms of people helping out from other communities. In the photo below, Sughra Ahmed and Selma Ravat (from the Islamic Society of Britain) flank Lesley and Alan of Street Pastors. Lesley and Alan are wearing hi visibility orange  vests, which say "Community Mediator" on the back. they also appear to glow in the dark, judging by their effect on the picture!

When I introduce the kids to some of my friends here, more than one remembers that I told them how Harry stood up for Leicester's Muslims at school, when rumours and falsehoods were being spread about them in the days before the English Defence League visited Leicester in October last year. I was proud of him for doing that and am glad it's not been forgotten.


This event - and others to follow weekly on Thursday evenings during Ramadan - has been organised by Farhaanah Surti on behalf of the Islamic Society of Britain. It's been coordinated largely through the Sharing is Caring page on Facebook.

MAKE IT NICE BROTHERS

On the front page of "The Week", the Leicester Mercury's entertainment supplement included with the paper every Thursday, there's a striking photo of the Make It Nice Brothers - one of whom may be better known to you, faithful reader, as Naim Cortazzi. This lead article is promoting the Mercury's very own Summer Sundae Fringe Showcase festival. Rather than have you strain your eyes unnecessarilly, here's the text:

Presented in conjunction with the lovely people at Pineapster, the gig will feature some of the biggest acts in Leicester at the moment – (drum roll please) Charlie and the Martyrs, Autohype, Jersey Budd, Fatal Star and Uncle Frank. [...] here we give you The Make It Nice Brothers, aka Uncle Frank Benbini and Na'im "Blue Steel" Cortazzi, the duo who make up both Uncle Frank and Fatal Star.
There's talk of DJs, skits and the entire Leicester Riders basketball team coming down to support the set.
"It's going to be a special night," said Na'im. "Uncle Frank is... well, how to explain it. It's like a theatrical Benny Hill meets Barry White.
"We're bringing down our friends from the Riders, as well, to give us a bit of support and we've got a DJ, Boy Kid Cloud, so we're going to do it Run DMC style. It's going to be a party.
"We've got a specially penned song just for the night, about the Leicester music scene."
For anyone who doesn't know, the pair have been performing in the two acts for several years.
Na'im fronts Fatal Star and Frank takes the reins for Uncle Frank. "There's too much talent there to restrict it to just one thing," laughs Na'im.
"But for this show we'll put it all together. It'll make sense when you see it live, I think.
"Music for us was never about being popstars or being famous. It's truly an expression of our souls."
More laughter.
"I know that sounds pretentious but we do love it. We'll never stop."
Music has been a big part of their lives for a long time, and the pair met while in other bands about 10 years ago.
As well as his partnership with Na'im, Frank is also busy touring the world with his other band (you may have heard of them, Fun Lovin' Criminals? He plays drums.) "They're really good guys," says Na'im. "They look after their own."

GET INSPIRED 2010

At the community centre opposite Shree Jalaram Prarthana Mandal in Narborough Road this evening. I've been invited to attend the launch for a forthcoming public celebration of Hindu life, an ambitious event to be held at Leicester Racecourse and Conference Centre over a weekend in the middle of August.

Get Inspired 2010 aims to educate, inform and promote the full breadth and diversity of Hindu culture, values and philosophy as well as to showcase the Hindu outlook on living a sustainable and environmentally friendly lifestyle. It takes as its target audience people from all over the UK, from all ages and all faith groups. It is looking to attract over 10,000 visitors to the event over two days but will also reach out to a global audience through its PR and marketing initiatives.

This event is being organised by a group of community-minded individuals drawn from all Hindu faith groups, who have come together over the last few years to promote the work of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies - an internationally recognised academic institution. I understand it's also building on the legacy of "Get Connected", a successful and fondly remembered event held in Leicester in 2004.

Sadly, I won't be able to attend Get Inspired 2010, as it's being held at the same time as the Summer Sundae Weekender at De Montfort Hall and Gardens (I've just forked out £250 for a three-day family ticket for that!)