Northern Ireland's first Taste The World Festival took place at St Mary's Primary Grounds, Newcastle 7th & 8th May
A unique two day festival with special guests, food, music, dance and creative experiences at the foot of the Mournes in Newcastle. Taste the World fuses food and music in a format that presents a wonderful opportunity for musicians to share their culture, music and their story in an intimate setting with time for spontaneous music and fascinating conversation.
Guest musicians will cook a special dish from their country of origin, whilst talking about their musical journey, inspirations and influences. The audience will also get a taste of the food cooked.
Hosting the Taste the world stage we were delighted to have Annie Menter, Roger de Wolf and Patti Buada – all three having over a decade of experience managing Taste The World at WOMAD Festivals. Annie is also the director of Afrika Aye Festival
The event is managed by Beyond Skin in partnership with Unit T and YMCA (Greenhill & Newcastle Youth). The Festival is part of the PEACE IV Blueprint programme. Blueprint is a comprehensive ethnic minority cultural diversity programme across the Newry, Mourne and Down District Council area, supported by the European Union’s PEACE IV Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB)
Beyond Skin would like to thank....
Primary partners Kathy & team @ Unit T
Greenhill YMCA & YMCA Newcastle
Annie, Roger & Patti from Taste The World UK
Primary sponsors Newry Mourne District Council (Justyna, Sarah & Theresa) Special EU Programmes Body - SEUPB
St Mary's Primary School Newcastle for the host festival site.
Declan (Principal) & Kevin (Caretaker)
In-kind business & community support
Stretch Tents And Canopies LTD - KDM Hire Sloan Environmental - TCB Productions / Mervyn Boyd Entertainments JIm (Sound & Lights) - anet @ Compass Advocacy Network Limited - Tesco & Ldle Newcastle- Hamilton Gas Products Ltd - Safe Security NI ltd - Joanne @ Language Training Solutions (LTS) - Newcastle Lions Club - Snooze Apartments - Mountain View Lodge Newcastle - The Links Newcastle - Sam @ Fane Street Primary School - Shiva - Jam 'n' Iré - Dolmens Climate Action Network - The Big Lunch Northern Ireland - Fired Food - Proper Coffee - Js Donuts - MME Think Tank - and all the
J&K Coaches - Belfast Bus Company - Legal Island (Barry Philips) - private donors supporting access (bus hire) and Volunteer drivers. Together providing transport access to 187 adults and children in asylum seeking / refugee status (most living in limbo in hotels)
Musicians/Artists/Dancers/Cooks
Landing, Sansao, Amita, Stephanie, Anne, Ceire, Meyyet, Ali, Mim, Davey, Hannah, Benny, Jullian & Candy (Mr Klaje), Marcella, 5th Element, Heather, Caroline.
"It was nice to see different cultures being celebrated. As someone who is not from here, it gave me a sense of being welcome and included. I liked seeing the m.c. wearing a shirt that resembled Madiba's(Nelson Mandela) shirts" - Athi
"The Taste the World event was just fantastic!! Having mixed race children in a predominantly white society means that events like these are invaluable for their sense of identity and cultural education. It was so lovely to see so many families of all ethnicities coming together in celebration! Please please please can we hold as many events as these as possible as the ethnic makeup of Northern Ireland is slowly changing and everyone needs to feel part of a diverse society!" - Clare
"Our family isn’t able to travel down to the Newcastle area often because of our child’s tendency for car sickness on those windy country roads, but we were able to get down on Sunday for the Taste the World Festival and it was so worth it!! Great comfortable atmosphere, family-friendly, and as an immigrant who’s been in NI for almost 20 years, it was so soul-assuring to be around such celebrated diversity. Great artistic programming and venue! Thank you to the organisers!" - Shannon
"I am very happy to have participated in your happy and exciting festival and it was a new experience for me and I was able to meet different people and different nationalities there as well as their delicious food. I hope to participate in such fun festivals again in the near future." - Hoda
"Really nice trip my kids and me and my friends enjoyed the festival and it changed our mood thank you for your efforts" - Wafa
" I want to thank you and your group on behalf of me and my wife for amazing festival on 7th & 8th May. We had a great time and we really enjoyed. Everything was great and perfect. We hope to have suchlike these programs in future". Hadi
