Appeal to community for help ahead of Sheffield Carnival 2019

Carnival is set to return to Sheffield in June, following its successful stand-alone comeback to Norfolk Heritage Park in 2018, with the theme ‘rise of the phoenix’. 

This year organisers Supreme Origins are inviting the public to celebrate all things ‘made in Sheffield’ – whether it be past or present – and are hoping to promote the cultural diversity that exists in the city through various activities on the day.

Still in its early stages, they are on the hunt for an accessible venue or space that can host a number of workshops in which around 250 extravagant costumes and various carnival items will be made by groups of cross-generational volunteers from the community.

The space will then need to be available to store items in the months leading up to event day.

Keen to make this years event better than ever, organisers are appealing for volunteers to also help with planning, offering sponsorship and donations or to become a performer on the day.

In previous years Sheffield Carnival has hosted a number of activities such as African dancing and African drumming workshops, Indian dancing workshops, and an array of artists and singers.

And this year they are looking to introduce even more art forms, such as spoken word into a line up of performers.

Sheffield Carnival is run by Supreme Origins, a not-for-profit group of friends formed in response to their memories of African Caribbean Fortnight, an event in Sheffield that began in Sheffield in 1974.

African Caribbean Fortnight began with one of the ‘godfathers of carnival’, Leroy Wenham who came from Leeds to work at The Sheffield Caribbean Workshop.

At the time he saw a cultural void in the city, and therefore made it an aim to share the Caribbean culture within the wider community.

Consisting of ten events lasting over a fortnight in September, it showcased things like Caribbean themed school workshops, community events, fashion shows, and carnival to start or finish off the fortnight.

Carnival captured the hearts of many, with a theme each year that called on local groups to get involved with costume making.

The procession could be seen dancing through the streets in areas such as Sharrow, London Road and Pitsmoor.

Due to lack of funding it was often financed by Leroy and other organisers who were passionate about celebrating and sharing their culture within the city and ran until 1994.

It was reborn as Sheffield Carnival last year, supported by the Migration Matters Festival.

To get involved or to offer space for the workshops email [email protected] or ring 07477948204.

For updates follow @sheffcarnival on Twitter or search Sheffield Carnival on Facebook.