Huddersfield Carnival 2011

Myself and Mary Augustine, Chair of HACCT speaking at last year's carival

Had a great day in Huddersfield at the Carnival today. I had the immense privilege of leading the procession through the streets of Huddersfield to St George’s Square, along with the Greenhead Ward councillors, Mehboob, Mohan and Judith. The procession was a spectacular explosion of colour and the atmosphere was electric. It was a wonderful celebration of life in our multi-cultural society.

I was asked to make a speech at the young people’s arena at St Peter’s Gardens and here it is.

Hello everybody. Thank you for inviting me to your carnival. I’ve just had the privilege of leading the carnival procession to St George’s Square! I was with some of the most beautiful people in Huddersfield, wearing the most spectacular costumes. The colours were even more vibrant than last year and the atmosphere was electric. This is going to be an awesome event, a celebration of your identity, heritage and culture.  In fact a celebration of life.

Its really important to be proud of your identity and to celebrate your heritage and culture as we are doing today. You can then reach out to the wider community and let them share it with you.

On behalf of the wider community, I would like to thank you all for allowing us to share in this wonderful celebration of life. Today, we can forget our worries and enjoy being part of this marvellous multi-cultural society that we are so proud of in Huddersfield.

In Halifax today, the EDL are trying to provoke hate and division between communities. Here in Huddersfield, we are sending them a very clear message that we are proud of our diverse, multi-cultural community and we reject the EDL’s message of hate.

So lets celebrate life, celebrate multi-culture and celebrate our carnival.

God Bless you all and may you enjoy today!