Behind the Scenes - Cultural Parade, Music and Dance

With just over a week to go until our first ever Culture Festival, Saturday 2nd July, 2:00-4:30pm, our BGS community are pulling together to finalise all the small details which will inevitably make the day an incredible success.

Our students have been engaged in a multitude of activities in preparation for the event, including; bunting clubs, dress rehearsals, flag making and more. Two groups working extra hard to ensure the creative aspects of the day flourish are our Music & Dance and Cultural Parade Lower Sixth groups.

Etienne (Lower Sixth), the creative leader of the Cultural Parade group stated: “I feel that it is important to create an environment in which students of all ages and ethnicities can express their personal identity and culture. We would love to see more events such as this in BGS and continue the legacy of what we have created, alongside the South Asian Society and African and Caribbean Society, allowing our school to embrace and celebrate its diversity.”

Manpriya (Year 7), said: “At the Culture Festival, I will be representing Indian culture. I want to show everyone more about Indian culture and I thought what better way to do this than dress up! Whilst walking in the parade, I have chosen to walk to the song Vibe by Diljit Dosanjh. You can listen to it here.”

The Cultural Parade allows our students to celebrate a wide array of cultural diversity by walking in their traditional clothing and representing a country they affiliate with. Some of the countries already being represented include: Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Poland, Spain, Thailand, England, Brazil, France, India and more.

View the Cultural Parade poster here.

Ishani, (Lower Sixth) the group leader for our Culture Festival Dance and Music, expressed: “Seeing the wide variety of the different cultures of this school’s students has been an extremely insightful experience and I have been working with students that are immensely passionate about expressing their heritage, particularly through dance and music, which is a huge part of how I love to express my heritage, being a Bharatanatyam dancer myself. I am looking forward to seeing the festival come to life next Saturday with the fantastic array of cultural activities and entertainment that the students have worked so hard to put together!”

Aleena, (Year 8) said: “I have thoroughly enjoyed preparing a South Asian inspired dance to perform at culture fest as it gives the BGS community an insight into the various traditional dances there are. It has been lovely to share my passion and interest in South Asian dance and I look forward to performing in it. Preparing the dance was exciting as my partner and I are so eager to teach and inspire others in hope of our peers learning about our heritage even more.” 

To see some of the brilliant musical and dance performances present at the Culture Festival, view the poster here.