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"a celebration of local and international music and culture, strengthening local traditions and lifestyles by creating both community and international bonds through music and the arts"
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"a celebration of local and international music and culture, strengthening local traditions and lifestyles by creating both community and international bonds through music and the arts" |
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March 2007 saw a new development of the festival in conjunction with African Linx. Two UK artists (Chris Park and Justine Hart), went over to Kartong to work and perform with the kora player Moriba Kuyateh at the festival. The result was a spellbinding performance of traditional British folk tunes interwoven with music from the traditions of West Africa. (Picture & logo) The collaboration is to continue next year with a project in the UK where the three artists will work with a youth theatre group in Oxfordshire, to create a new performance piece.
This year’s festival also saw the welcome return of Daby Balde who played at the first event in 2005. This was made possible by a donation from The Prince Claus Fund of the Netherlands. Another one of the highlights this year was a remarkable performance by the “The Cotton Tree” from Sierra Leone. It was a breathtaking show of acrobatics, magic and dance to a powerful musical accompaniment. During the week there was a film show from the Gambian based organisation, Gam-Progressive Pictures. They work together with young Gambians to produce top quality topical films in the local languages. This went down exceptionally well with the local audience. The Festival also collaborated this year with Yiriwa FM, which is a community based local radio station in Brikama. Several of the performances were broadcast live and many interviews were transmitted throughout the week. |
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With the increase in size of the festival and the increase in demands on the KART organising committee it was felt necessary to transfer ownership of the festival to the village itself, and so in June 2006 the Kartong Festival Association was formed from representatives from all the interested groups and associations in the village. Emphasis was placed on getting a good balance of membership with a good gender balance. An organising committee was formed and the Association was registered as a charity in the Gambia in July 2006. At the same time it was realised that to promote the festival to an international market it would be necessary to set up an organisation based in Europe and so in August 2006 the African Linx Organisation was established in the UK. The aims of the organisation are to support the Kartong Festival and also to promote the understanding and celebration of our own cultural identities. A day's festival in September 2006 was organised in the village of Cropredy (Oxfordshire) where local musicians played alongside their African counterparts, promoting the Kartong Festival and the idea of celebrating cultural diversity. |
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The idea of the Festival was developed during the summer of 2005 by the Kartong Association for Responsible Tourism (KART). This group had been established in order to safeguard the unique qualities that make Kartong so special, particularly with regard to the development of tourism in the area. The Festival was seen as a way of promoting to a wider audience, through Music and the Arts, the diverse culture embedded in the village and thus strengthening it. The first event took place over the weekend of 18 th -20 th November 2005 in the local school grounds. There was an amazing 300 performers from Gambia and Senegal packed into the weekend with music and dance going on into the early hours every night. The response to this weekend was fantastic and led to immediate plans to extend the festival to 10 days in March 2006. For this event local funding was sought and through the generosity of many local people, companies and organisations the event again was a major success with this time the inclusion of several workshops given for the local children of the community. |