Family fun and a theme of unity at Thatcham Fun Day
On Saturday, Afrofest welcomed diverse local communities to The Moors in Thatcham for a vibrant celebration of African culture organised by Avila, an African fusion restaurant based in Reading. More than 1,200 free tickets were distributed to encourage people from all corners of the community to attend the event, hosted in collaboration with Community United and Thatcham Town Council.
Event organiser Adenike Kalejaiye said: “It was amazing to see many taking part in Afrofest.”
“There are many people to thank, but most of all Thatcham Town Council and Avila Group for enhancing the journey of Community United. To see such amazing comments about the event is a good community together feeling.”
Some of the feedback received from people who came to the event:
“We are truly honoured to be part of this community celebration.”
“There are many people to thank, but most of all Thatcham Town Council and Avila Group for enhancing the journey of Community United.
“To see such amazing comments about the event is a good community together feeling.”
“We are truly honoured to be part of this community celebration.”
“It was a lovely event with a great vibe,” wrote one person.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a friendly and family-oriented event which had one purpose, and that was giving back and bringing the community together as one,” said another.
Newbury MP Lee Dillon, Mayor of Thatcham Suzanne Adamantos, Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service and Thames Valley Police all joined in the festivities to show their support for the community.
The festival’s highlight was a free BBQ donated by Avila, offering Afrofusion food to all attendees, accompanied by an Afrobeats DJ.
The egg and spoon race, sack race and tug of war also drew enthusiastic participation, with more than 100 people competing in these friendly but highly competitive games.
This event marked a milestone for Thatcham’s new community Radio Station, Thathcham Town Radio which presented a live 2 hour outside broadcast from the event. This marked the first ever live outside broadcast by the station which only launched this year. Members of the events organising team along with Thatcham Mayor Cllr Suzannee Adamantos joined Bear Stephens live on air to talk about the event and what it means to create unity in the community.
Afterwards, Bear Stephens, Senior Producer at Thatcham Town Radio said: “This has been a truly amazing experience for everyone and in the current context of the news, a timely reminder of the need to unite against hate and thuggish behaviour. Everyone had a great time and the food was great. It was our pleasure to host a live radio show at this event and we hope to take our roadshow to many more in the future.”
You can listen to the entire radio show from Afrofest 2024 below.