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Author: web@dmin
It is with a heavy heart that we report the passing of Vernon Shabaka Thompson who passed away suddenly in Saint Lucia on Tuesday 4 July 2023 at the age of 65. While he was the director of Yaa Asantewaa Arts and Community Centre, Shabaka initiated and realised a major capital project called Carnival Village. He was instrumental in the formation of the Association of British Calypsonians (ABC, now ACASA) and the London Calypso Tent. He was involved in many carnival arts projects in the UK, the Caribbean and Africa and recently as the Artist Director of Hull International Carnival.…
Hull International Carnival (HIC) will hit the road this year with a new look, a new date and a new route. Hosted by Hull International Carnival Association (HICA) and with international carnivalist Shabaka Thompson as its artistic director, the independent carnival will engage local communities to build on the success of the Big Lunch commemorating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Taking as its theme The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, the week-long festival of arts and culture will run from Monday 1 to Sunday 7 August 2022. It is made up of three elements: An intercultural festival of community diverse arts and culture at…
On Sunday 3 September, following two years’ preparation involving local groups and artists, Hull, City of Culture, hosted the city’s inaugural Hull International Carnival. The parade set off from King Edward Square, and moved through the town centre to finish at Queens Gardens. There were giant sea shells blasting soca rhythms, live samba bands, Rampage Mas costumes and participants from the city’s many diverse communities. The carnival was directed by international carnival expert Pax Nindi, led by chairman, Doctor Tapan Mahapatra, and was aptly hosted in partnership with the Hull Freedom Festival director, Mikey Martins. During August, the carnival hosted…
Unfortunately, the Carnival did not happen due to the Coronavirus
The year 2019 was the best Carnival that took over the streets of Kingston Upon Hull for September first weekend of sun-soaked partying, in celebration of the city’s diverse communities and heritage. The streets were filled with revellers dressed up to play mas. Not only is Carnival filled with sounds – but the incredible smell of all the street food stalls. Curried goat, jerk chicken, plantain, the list goes on… The annual Hull International Carnival was filled with bright costumes, loud music and some of the UK best dancers and is one of the biggest events on the Hull calendar.
This year we recruited more board members and have been meeting looking at governance, new projects, fundraising, sponsorship, staffing, 2018 carnival and beyond. We have again secured Arts Council small grant and the Hull City Council Small grants and will deliver the Carnival again directed by the artistic Director and working in partnership with Freedom Festival as done in 2017.
In 2017 we registered the organisation as a Community Interest Company and also agreed that officially renowned international Carnival expert Pax Nindi will be HICA Artistic Director to assist in the delivery of annual quality international carnival events. For the past three years Pax has been volunteering his time by visiting Hull and assisting the organisation on planning, governance, programming and research into funding and sponsorship. Through him we were able to deliver the Carnival in partnership with the Freedom Festival as well as secure Arts Council small grants funding which helped us deliver a very successful international 2017 carnival…
In 2016 we got Hull International Carnival Association (HICA) members to participate in a soft Carnival launch attended by the local community, the Mayor with participation from various cultural groups i.e. David Okwesia who specializes in music, dance and hip hop. Hekima Sing and Tell, Folklore, Storytelling and Drumming, Gambia cultural troupe (Africa Arts), Indian Mela (Hindu cultural association), Trans Arts, Hull Samba drumming, Bengali dancers, Iota Visual Arts, Mexican folklore (Latin America) and an umbrella cultural organisation Humber All Nations Alliance(HANA). That was delivered through support from Global Carnivalz Ltd and a grant from the Big Lottery which supported…
In 2015 the then Chairman of Hull Black History Month Mr Martin Chinga got in touch with renowned carnival consultant Pax Nindi FRSA through his Global Carnivalz’s website in which he requested assistance from Global Carnivalz Ltd(GCL) (on behalf of the Black History Month group) to start a new Carnival in Hull. GCL’s Chief Executive Pax Nindi responded and agreed to guide the group to formulate a new Carnival organisation with governance and an annual carnival event which engages the different cultures that reside in Hull. To proceed a meeting led by Pax was held at the Afro Caribbean Centre…