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Saturday, July 2nd saw Stoke-on-Trent's Hanley city centre turned into a musical stewpot as flavours from all over the world tickled the tastebuds. From Africa to Ireland, a diverse mixture of sounds filtered through the town, as the stage on Tontine Square was bathed in sunshine (just this once!) and the weather stayed dry. (Phew!) Among the highlights were the Zimbabwean acapella group Simunye. Their uplifting Ndebele and Zulu songs seemed to draw in the usually frantic Saturday shopping crowd, and there was plenty of clapping and singing along! Enthusiastic Jobila's drumming got plenty of people involved, both young and old - as an African vibe wafted nicely through the streets, attracting an enthusiastic crowd. Unfortunately, the Kurdish 'Bak Band' were unable to attend - but this didn't stop the audience having fun as they tried the different workshops and interactive sessions. BBC Radio Stoke was also represented by reporter Helen Thomas, who gave regular updates into Nick Robins' show, and even found time to have a go on the drums! Members of the management team, Sue Owen and Sarah Harness, also got involved by taking photographs, of which you can view in our gallery. (See top right of the page!) Jigs and reels... The Boat Band and Fluff Smith brought the more traditional British and Irish sounds to the affair, with jaunty, fast-paced jigs, but what made it most exciting is that the musicians all 'jammed' on each other's music. For example the Jobila drummers added their own sounds to the music of The Boat Band and so on and so forth. So much so that our reporter Helen Thomas described it an 'eclectic mix' - eloquently put we think! The event kicked off at midday, and it seemed to fly so quickly, such was the carnival-atmosphere that it created. As the event drew to a close, and the stages were packed away - it was left for the crowd to slowly disperse, each of them newly educated in the diversity and ethnicity of our city and its inhabitants. | 
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