Bath Carnival celebrates its 10th birthday this year with a procession on 8 July that will make its way through Bath’s city centre for the tenth time, marking a decade of the community project and grass roots engagement in carnival arts across B&NES.
The procession will bring together people in Bath and the surrounding area for a celebration of culture, creativity, and diversity. Local schools, community groups, charities and freelance artists are collaborating throughout May- July to prepare their performances for the big day, inspired by the theme Elements of Nature.
As well as hundreds of drummers and dancers, this year’s carnival will see new giant puppets, professional carnival costumes and pedal powered structures, creating a truly incredible artistic spectacle for the special anniversary.
As always, spectators are invited to Bath Rec Ground in the morning to enjoy free family-focused activities including drumming and dance workshops, whilst soaking up the atmosphere as the procession performers get ready to parade!
Combined Arts Festival
At the heart of the family festival in Sydney Gardens is the Main Stage, which boasts a wonderfully diverse line-up of live acts for the land-mark anniversary.
- Music Workshop kick off proceedings with local music students joining tutors on stage for an epic concert of familiar classics.
- DJ Chris Arnold performs his Beatles Dub Club mix, showcasing a collection of covers, remixes, mashups and tunes that sample one of the greatest band that ever existed – The Beatles.
- There’s also the return of some much-loved acts from the past decade – such as 10-piece Afrobeat behemoth, Matuki and Rio de Janeiro style Samba outfit Bloco B – not to mention a host of incredible new talents including neo-soul group Laimu and Latin Spin, who feature some of the city’s most talented Latin instrumentalists.
- Caribbean arts and culture are celebrated throughout the day, with the likes of Esikmo Nebula, Da Fuchaman & His Fire Blaze Band and Biggles’ Sound bringing the unmistakable sounds of reggae and dub music back to the city centre.
- The headline set will see producer and artist Sam Redmore unveil his live ensemble in Bath for the first time, performing an eclectic mix of disco, afrobeat, broken beat and cumbia. Plus, there’s still more music to be announced, with the Acoustic Stage line-up being released very soon.
- The free dance workshops will bring young and old together as families learn a range of dance forms under the guidance of professional instructors, with a particular focus on Afro-Brazilian routines.
- And as always children are well catered for with the totally awesome SuperPirates curating an action-packed play zone with kid’s raves, giant inflatables, messy play, walkabout and group games.
After hours celebrations
The party moves indoors for an after-hours celebration at Komedia with the official after party taking the revelry into the earlier hours. Local Samba outfit Jamma de Samba have prepared a very special stage show complete with professional dancers, with DJs closing this year’s anniversary celebrations with tropical mixes inspired by Carnival cultures from around the world.
There are still a couple of spaces available for local community dance groups or pedestrian groups to join the procession alongside one of the amazing Samba bands. Contact Bath Carnival via email if interested: email hidden; JavaScript is required.
Family parade
Families looking to parade with their children are welcome to join the Junior Bloco; a designated group in the procession with parents parading with children alongside them and their push-chairs, buggies, scooters, and mini-trucks dressed to impress!
Anyone looking for some inspiration for decorating their wheeled items can join Bath Carnival Artist, Hannah, at The Forum on Sat 17 June, for a decorating workshop with other local families.
Ticket link: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/bath-carnival-junior-bloco-costume-workshop-tickets-600574463387