- Friday, April 19, 2024
By: Keerthi Mohan
A BIRMINGHAM-based community group that works to empower and celebrate Asian women received a grant of £10,000 from the National Lottery on Saturday (12).
The Asian Woman Festival was presented with its cheque for the National Lottery funding by The Lord Mayor of Leeds, Cllr Eileen Taylor, at an event at the Malmaison in Leeds.
Through culture, conversation and art the UK’s first-ever Asian Woman Festival took place in Birmingham on March 30. The event was attended by more than 1000 people.
Their first regional event, held in Leeds this past weekend, was attended by more than 40 women.
Festival director and founder, Shani Dhanda said: “I am so proud of what my team and I have created, and best of all the community we are representing and providing a much-needed safe platform for.
“Thank you to everyone who plays the National Lottery, we wouldn’t be able to do this without you. I self-funded our first festival because I so strongly believed in creating a community, I was craving to be part of, which just didn’t exist.
“Being of Asian origin and living in the UK means not only are we a more socially conservative community due to our traditional and cultural beliefs, but we are constantly bridging two cultures. This can mean there are often times in our lives we feel conflicted and even guilty in our efforts to juggle our dual identities. Until the Asian Woman Festival, there hasn’t been an opportunity to talk about how living in contradiction becomes second nature.”
The 2020 edition of the festival will be held on April 4 in Walsall.
