Charivari is a unique, colourful and noisy street carnival through the streets of Folkestone. All of the young people in the parade come from across the district and have made their own extraordinary costumes to wear in the parade. The procession assembles at the fishmarket, with around 700 costumed participants & street bands from across the UK that will dance their way through the town to the Leas bandstand, watched by thousands of spectators. This year it takes place on 15th July & will involve schools and adult groups wearing spectacular costumes they have made with Strange Cargo – it’s an amazing sight to see and so much fun to join in. Charivari first hit the streets in 1997 and this year the theme is A Very British Rhythm, its a wonderful free event which brings the community together to enjoy the extraordinary parade and hear the fabulous visiting streetbands, which this year includes Dhol drummers, jazz, samba and brilliant carnival sounds. Please help us to make this happen.

What we'll deliver:

• Professionally delivered carnival costume workshops for school students, & adults with mental & physical challenges.
• Free workshop costume packs for home schooled children to make a costumes at home & join in on the day.
• A wonderful free day of carnival costumes and music for the whole community to enjoy in Folkestone on 15th July 2023..
• Professional choreography from Museum of Colour associate dancers will bring new opportunities to participating schools.

Why it's a great idea:

Charivari is a fabulous day when everyone can take to the streets & celebrate together as a community - & its FREE! You can enjoy in in so many ways. Watch the parade of fabulous & colourful costumes; dance along with the carnival drummers; listen to the music, picnic on the Leas. We use close to 100% biodegradable materials for the costumes & no one is excluded from taking part because of lack of money. We aim to open the door to cultural opportunities for everyone. We live in a town with pockets of huge deprivation & some of the people we engage with live in these wards. We invite schools to participate from across the district & young people from disadvantaged communities will have the opportunity to learn new skills & experience an extraordinary, mass community celebration. Charivari Day is an important day of celebration for the whole town, actively bringing together people from all walks of life, helping people combat isolation and loneliness & improve people's wellbeing.

Steps to get it done:

• The primary teachers masterclass to show them how to make costumes to make in class.
• Getting free kits ready for home school children to collect to take part in Charivari Day

Strange Cargo is a local charity that has been making our art with the communy since 1995. All of our work is about people being able to join in the arts & we see Charivari Day as the open door for local folks to get to know us and to join in other art project we do. We made the Hands at Folkestone Central Station, the Folkestone map in the waiting room, the photos on all of the lampposts, the new sculptures at Folkestone West, Cheriton Light Festival & so much more. The only reason we are able to do all of these things is because local people chose join in. We raise all the money ourselves in order for these amazing opportunities to happen in the town, so please help us to continue to bring the best participation in the arts to the everyone, irrespective of their financial situation or their background. The arts are for everyone & if you can help us by donating whatever you can afford, we will keep doing everything we can to bring the best cultural experiences to our town.