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Luton is a proud place of sanctuary and welcome. Celebrate Refugee Week with us at the Welcome Home Festival!
A day filled with great company, delicious food, music, performances and much more.
This event is for everyone! All ages welcome, entry and all activities are free of charge!
Travel Support
If you are currently seeking asylum and live in Luton please email [email protected] to arrange support with travel costs to attend the festival. The budget is limited but we will provide as much support as possible.
What’s happening…
This event will take place outdoors, the weather is forecasted to be 24c and sunny, please wear appropriate clothing and sunscreen!
For kids
Parents/guardians must supervise children during all activities
- Bouncy castles
- Face painting / Glitter tattoos
- Nurse Dessie storytelling
- Arts and craft activities (t-shirt / totebag decorating and other activities)
- Friendship bracelet making
For everyone
- Exhibition of traditional clothing and embroidery created by Ukrainian artists
- Messages of welcome from local school children
- Cheer on teams taking part in the Luton Refugee Week Football tournament
- Enjoy a specially curated playlist with traditional music from around the world!
- Conversation Club – English Language taster sessions
Food & Drink
Visit our World Cafe and enjoy some good home-cooking! A delicious tasting menu (small dishes to try), lovingly prepared by expert cooks from refugee communities in Luton.
Flavours from:
- Ethiopia
- Eritrea
- Honduras
- Sudan
- Ukraine
Programme
12:30-15:00 Luton Refugee Week Football Tournament, managed by Luton Town FC Community Trust (teams pre-arranged, spectators only)
14:00-15:00 World Cafe is open! Come and try some delicious food and drink. Service will stop for the performance at 15:00.
14:00-16:00 Glitter tattoos and face painting
14:15 every 30 minutes until 17:45 English Language Conversation Club with Oasis Drop-in. Learning English can be fun! Laugh your way to learning or improving your English, make new friends at our taster sessions.
14:30 and 15:30 Meet Nurse Dessie and enjoy Windrush storytelling from Mary Seacole Housing Association Luton
15:00-16:30 A variety of performances from Sanctuary Got Talents – supporting and showcasing the talents and skills of people seeking sanctuary in Leeds, West Yorkshire and the UK. (X / TikTok)