Exeter's festivals celebrating diversity

Exeter has a quiet way of showing how multicultural it really is, and nowhere is that more obvious than in the festivals it puts on. A few of them have become fixtures on the local calendar, and they give you a decent sense of the communities that make up the city.

The biggest name is the Exeter Respect Festival, which is the longest-running festival of its kind in the South West. It started back in 1997 and has been going since, and the next edition is shaping up to be a big one: it lands on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 June 2027 at Belmont Park on Belmont Road, and it marks the 30th anniversary of that first festival. The theme for the year is 'Celebrating Unity', which is about celebrating unique identities while recognising we are all part of one human family. Since 2009 it has run as a two-day event in the park, drawing around 20,000 people a year, and before that, from 2003 to 2008, the main event sat at Exeter Phoenix. What you get there is a proper day out: three stages of live music and dance from around the world, storytelling, talks on social justice, multicultural food stalls, children's and family activities, and community stalls. It costs a symbolic £2 to get in, with under-16s free, gates open at 11:30 on the Saturday and 11:00 on the Sunday, and the whole thing is alcohol-free, accessible and family-friendly. It is run by Exeter Respect, with Dr Suaad Genem at the helm.

On a smaller, more intimate scale, the Bangla Cultural Night is the kind of event that really shows the city's grassroots side. It is a community arts evening celebrating Bengal heritage, and the most recent one ran from 5pm to 10pm at the Auditorium in Exeter Phoenix on Gandy Street, with doors opening at 5:00 and the programme starting at 6:30. Tickets were £8 plus a £1.50 booking charge, and the night brought together live music and dance from Bangladesh, India and local performers, alongside exhibitions of traditional Bengali clothing, crafts and artefacts. The food stalls were a highlight, with authentic Bengali cooking sitting alongside stalls from the Afghan, Filipino, Nigerian and Exeter Kerala communities. It was put on by Baul, with support from Inclusive Exeter and Exeter City Council, and it drew around 200 people, with the aim of celebrating diversity, reducing social isolation and strengthening community cohesion.

Both of these owe a lot to the venues and organisations behind them. Exeter Phoenix, on Bradninch Place, is a registered charity and a multi-artform venue that puts on hundreds of events every year, from live music and theatre to cinema, contemporary art, dance and comedy, and it keeps things going with art galleries, a solar-powered cinema and a Café Bar. And Inclusive Exeter is a Community Interest Company that works with grassroots groups to support ethnically diverse communities, helping to improve relationships between communities and local services and reduce isolation. Between the big anniversary festival and the smaller community nights, there is a lot of the city's multicultural life on display here.