The first annual Dove Street Community Arts Festival was a great success and marked a major step forward for the Dove Street Action Group.

We were proud of the quality of artworks and performances, which were provided predominantly by local residents. In particular there were more and better performances from local children, who had benefited from tuition at theatre, circus skills and art workshops run over the preceding months. Appalling weather prevented some workshops at the street party from taking place but barely dampened the spirits of up to couple of hundred participants.

We were delighted at the greater involvement of the Somali community in organising and attending events. The juxtaposition of live Somali music and torrential rain on the Saturday afternoon provided a memorable scene both multicultural and quintessentially English.

We were also pleased to welcome assistance from the Kingsdown Council Tenants' Association and members of the Elim Church, and were grateful for the generous gift of a robust and weatherproof temporary stage from Kennet Construction, who have been undertaking renovation works on the Dove Street flats. For the first time we integrated part of our programme with that of the Cube Cinema (also on Dove Street).