The 17 year-old Cowley Road Carnival is best known for its themed processions, workshops, and music & dance stages. This year it has attracted over 50,000 providing an incredible atmosphere. Since most of the carnivals are usually dominated by Caribbean, South American, African and European themes, inclusion of traditional Indian dances this year has seemingly set a new precedent.
Indian classical dance Bharatanatyam, folk dance Koli and Bollywood themed dance presented by Sanskruti Centre for Cultural Excellence and Sur Bharti women’s group have fascinated the audiences at the Cowley Road Carnival on 2nd July. The Indian flavour covering cultural and entertainment aspects clearly had a captive impact and the Bollywood master class has also enchanted several carnival revellers.
Folk and Bollywood dances were presented by Ahana Ghosh Sikka, Moumita Bhattacharjee, Mona Jethwa Patel, Rashi Arora, Rashmi Lakhapate, Shivangi Gokhale, Suvarchala Madireddy and Sweta Kumar. The classical dance was presented by Ragasudha VinjamuriOther organisations, mostly Oxfordshire-based, have participated in this vibrant annual festival.
