United Kingdom - The
Newham Steel band hosted its first steel band Blockorama in the new
Gillett Square, Bradbury Street, Dalston, East London on the 10th June
2007. The event was held between 1.00 -6.00 p.m. with free entry. The
event was supported by the British Association of Steelbands, National
Lottery, Awards for All, Hackney Co-operative Developments, The Vortex
and Fast London Design Show.
Gillett Square provides a quality public space of nearly 3,000 sq m of
high quality open space at the heart of Dalston town centre.
The
project was selected in 2002 as one of the first ten open space projects
within the Mayor of London's 100 public spaces programme. The site was
formally launched on 10th November 2006 by the Mayor of London, Ken
Livingstone. Gillett Square is in close proximity to Kingsland High
Street and provides both relief from the excessive pedestrian footfall
on the main street and a flexible arena for cultural activity.
The Newham blockorama certainly filled the square with cultural
activity. The ethnic food, steel band music, the colourful choreographed
display of costumes by the Tropical Isles Mas band coupled with the warm
weather generated a Caribbean atmosphere that was fully enjoyed by all.
The six steel bands in attendance filled the air with the sweet sounds
of steel. Newham led by Marcia Brown, Wilfred ‘Freddy’ Kirk led
Woodbine, St John’s Catholic and William Patten Schools were led by
Kyron Akal whilst Skinner’s Company School was directed by Alicia Brown
with Chris Storey in charge of Haringey Young Musicians. All the bands
were accompanied by young energetic flag wavers fervently waving their
flags of all the Caribbean islands.
Congrats go out to Joel ‘Tubbs’ Mills of Metronomes and BAS Future
Development Forum, Justin Russell, Captain of Mangrove, Justin ’Redz’
Richardson and Wesley Joseph for their percussive support of all the
bands. Tubbs could be seen hustling from band to band with his
percussive instrument, iron and iron board and was even seen playing the
bass with Newham. Well done lads for your continued efforts in keeping
the steel pan culture alive.
Event co-ordinators Felix Joseph and Marcia Brown did a wonderful job
ensuring that the event flowed smoothly. The British Association of
Steelbands sponsored awards and certificates for all the participating
bands. These were presented by UK pan pioneers, Gerald Forsyth and Frank
Rollock. A special achievement award was given to Woodbine steel band.
The general consensus from the audience was when will the next
blockorama be?
The
project was selected in 2002 as one of the first ten open space projects
within the Mayor of London's 100 public spaces programme. The site was
formally launched on 10th November 2006 by the Mayor of London, Ken
Livingstone. Gillett Square is in close proximity to Kingsland High
Street and provides both relief from the excessive pedestrian footfall
on the main street and a flexible arena for cultural activity. 
