Cowley Road Carnival 2015

Sunday 5th July 2015
Cowley Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX4 1UH, England MAP
FREE

Daily capacity: 45,000

Last updated: Tue 23rd Jun 2015

The FREE Cowley Road Carnival is a one day event, held on Cowley Road, Oxford on Sunday 5th July 2015, and will be a celebration of music, dance, food, entertainment. and Summer fun for all the family of everything that is unique for Oxford. The carnival is Free - no tickets needed. The event starts at noon and ends at 5pm.

The theme this year is ‘Creating our Future’ in celebration of Oxford Brookes University’s 150 year anniversary and their role in preparing generations of young people to fulfil their aspirations for the future. The groups in the procession, many of them school children, have been working on their costumes and giant-sized structures for months. Dance and music groups will also join the procession, including local favourites Sol Samba and Horns of Plenty, and the new Rhythm Craft group who have been making their drums from recycled materials. Community groups such as the Nepalese and West Papua will be part of it too.

Line-up

The line-up of nationally renowned world, reggae and carnival bands has not yet been announced.

The Manzil Gardens Stage kicks off at 12 noon with Balloon Ascents, followed by a programme of dance, and the ‘big finale’ from headline band Ran Kan Kan. Within the dance programme, you will also get the chance to see and perform the famous New Zealand ‘HaKa’ ritual dance, with Dancin’ Oxford.

The Caravan you will see parked up beside the Manzil Garden stage isn’t any ordinary caravan. It is the world’s weirdest wonder emporium packed with puppets, music and magic and set to present the ‘most magnifical, tremendible and fantasticulous experience’ as we join Dr Longitude and his crew of mysterious misfits who will entertain, amuse and beguile us in his quest to discover: ‘how many legs does a ‘Decapus’ have? Has anyone even seen a ‘Bumblewasp’? And what do you feed a ‘Whistling Pank’?

With over 45,000 people expected to attend the street festival, the organisers have created zones to help visitors find the events they want to participate in or see. Programmes with colour coded maps will be available on the website and from our volunteers on the day to make your day easier to plan. Suggested itineraries for carnival-goers will also be posted on the website.

For example, from the Manzil Gardens stage follow Manzil Way to the Body and Soul Garden for some Lotus Healing or learn about Falan Dafa.

More info

The Canival which for a while was held in Oxford's South Park takes place on the Cowley Road and in 2014 had a full procession, 12 venues boasting over 100 music and dance acts and food from around the world.

From The Plain, all the way along the Cowley Road to Magdalen Road, and with Manzil Way, Chapel Street and Dawson Street and other areas and venues joining the festivities, there is so much to see and do, with something to appeal to everyone and any age.

The street is closed to traffic and road diversions are in place from early in the morning while preparations are made with people busy setting up signs, stalls and stages. Everything has to be ready by noon, when the road will burst into life with hundreds of performers exploding into song and dance.

The fossil fuel free procession (on foot or pedal powered) will start at 1.30pm from The Plain end of Cowley Road, finishing at around 2.30-2.45pm at St Mary & St John churchyard near the junction with Magdalen Road. You can expect to see around 700 people in over 30 groups, all dressed up in their colourful and imaginative costumes.

If you need to get away from the bustle of the streets, the charity MIND is organising a quiet retreat for some calm at The Mill at 46 Cowley Road. There will also be the Family and Discovery Zones offering an alternative vibe and activity.

Food is a huge attraction for visitors on the day and, with dishes from countries all round the world on offer, you are sure to be able to try something delectable and new. The Cowley Road is already famous for food, with restaurants specialising in Indian, Thai, Chinese, Lebanese, Greek, Portuguese, Polish, Italian and Nepalese

cuisine, and more. On Carnival Day, most of them, like the award-winning Aziz, will present their specialities on food stalls outside their premises and join others stall-holders there just for the day, such as the Oxford-based Indonesian Community Group which always takes a stall to sell delicious national dishes, and Caribbean jerk chicken.

For the drinkers, there will be two Carnival bars, one on Manzil Gardens near the main stage, and the other in the Hobgoblin Car Park behind Tesco, between Union and Chapel Streets.

In the Hobgoblin Car Park there will be a performance stage, introduced successfully for the first time last year. Anyone who has seen the film from 2014 on social media can see the area ‘jumping’ to DJ sets throughout the afternoon. This year promises an equally lively programme of DJs and local bands.

To chill out, take a trip to ‘Cowleyfornia’, in the Hobgoblin Car Park space, for a cool, laid back area with its own beach and skate ramp. There will also be fairground rides (aimed at teens and over rather than the little ones).

The event will also host The Aroma Carnival Cup – International Charity Football Tournament