Carnival honours original arrivals

Beating heart of Wales’ Black community celebrates historic milestone. By Richard Sudan

THE ANNUAL Butetown Carnival, which is taking place in the beating heart of Wales’ Black community in south Cardiff, this year has a very special theme.

While showcasing an unmissable mosaic of African and Caribbean music, 2023 is dedicated to honouring the original Windrush arrivals that first introduced carnival to the UK, changing the cultural landscape forever.

Organiser Hilary Brown explained the motivation behind this year’s festivities, taking place at the end of August which will celebrate South Wales’ rich and diverse communities, while paying homage to the first arrivals from the Caribbean.

“This celebrates everything that’s great about migration into the UK, particularly Caribbean migration,” Brown told The Voice

“Windrush are the people who brought carnival to the UK. Trinidadians were the first to bring it, quickly joined by all of the Caribbean islands bringing their own flavour. The roots of any Caribbean music is Africa. It’s only right that we come together as one diaspora. We will be playing current music but also calypso and ska, all of the joyful music that made up that first carnival.”

Speaking about the success of last year’s event, she added: “I wanted you to be able to stand in the park, close your eyes and listen to the music feeling that you could be anywhere in the Caribbean or Africa. We brought artists from Jamaica, Ghana, and Europe. Local performers, too, were able to go away at the end of the day and say wow; ‘I shared the stage with an international artist’.”

One of this year’s international headliners is Ghanaian dance- hall sensation Kahpun, set to release his highly anticipated The Dice Album on June 10.

Kahpun’s already known for hits such as Makeup, featuring Stonebwoy, which has gained more than a quarter million views on YouTube.

Kahpun is one to watch. And he’s not just blessing the mic at this year’s Windrush-dedicated Butetown Carnival. He’s been actively supporting events alongside Cardiff South MP Stephen Doughty and Ghanaian Deputy UK High Commissioner Rita Tani Iddi, to raise awareness of the injustices around the Windrush scandal, impacting commonwealth nations beyond the Caribbean, and highlighting the schemes available to support those affected.

He also plans to create a foundation for young people in the UK and Ghana to support their educational and artistic ambitions. Ghana’s Independence Day was celebrated at the Butetown Community Centre.

Speaking about his own musical journey leading to this point, having performed at last year’s carnival, he said:

“I love Wales and I love the response. I’ve played stadiums before but this was a new experience with different people. I would really love to come back and be honoured to be part of it every year.”

Kahpun has also graced some big venues back in Ghana with some memorable moments.

“Cape Coast Stadium, the commissioning of the new stadium, was one of them. I hosted Shatta Wale live in Cape Coast and that was one of the biggest because the stadium was full, 64,000. And I come from Cape Coast so my people were all over to support me.”

Ghanaians back home and those in Wales are proud of the solid work from one of their own.

With many other great artists set to share the stage with Kahpun, this year’s Butetown Carnival is surely not to be missed.