Islington and Hackney Amnesty Group Summer Fayre

Celebrating refugees in Islington Green with music and food from around the world

Where - Islington Green Angel
When - 1 July 12-5pm

The Islington and Hackney Amnesty Group is organising a celebration for refugees on Islington Green this Saturday with live music, speakers and food from around the world.

The Islington Refugee Choir will open the “Refugees Welcome” Summer Fayre, followed by various live musicians and refugee speakers from Syria, Eritrea and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Islington and Hackney Amnesty Group has organised the event in partnership with the Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants to raise awareness about the refugee crisis and to encourage the people of Islington to declare their support for refugees.

One of the key speakers at the event is former Syrian refugee, Ghias Aljundi, who is Amnesty International’s Refugee Campaigner.

Syrian artist Hasan Abdalla will be exhibiting his work and will also be running an art workshop for children, as part of his work for Hikayetna, meaning ‘our story’ in Arabic.

There will also be interactive and virtual reality activities related to refugees, Ethiopian food and coffee from Mesi’s Kitchen on the Holloway Road, action stalls, home-made cakes, face painting and a raffle and a tombola with a refugee twist.

Organiser of the event and chair of the Islington and Hackney Amnesty group, Louise Orton, said: “Over 21 million people have fled brutal wars and persecution and thousands have perished at sea or have become victim to exploitation by unscrupulous people smugglers.

“Despite being one of the richest countries in the world, the UK plays host to less than one per cent of the world’s refugees. We wanted to highlight this to the people of Islington and show the positive contribution refugees make to our borough and the UK as a whole.”