Beeston is a community in south west Leeds that has a high level of economic and social deprivation and is very multicultural. It become notorious in 2005 as the home of one of the London subway bombers, a reputation that has been very painful for the local Muslim community. Recently, students and other socially conscious people have been moving into the community and starting to invest in it. The Festival is one result.
We arrived on Saturday at Cross Flats Park, which is this stunning green space in the middle of the city with enormous mature trees nourished on English rain. Vendors and displayers were setting up their stalls, and we were given the task of registering people who were entering the art and craft show. People brought everything from hand made jewelry to radishes. Their names had to be entered into a book and assigned a number for the judges.
After our job was done we had a chance to wander through the festival, looking at the wares that people were displaying, or the displays that local agencies had set up.
It was an absolutely beautiful day -- sunny and warm, in an English sort of way, with just a hint of coolness in the air. I had to admit that I was feeling ambivalent about being put to work at an event we knew nothing about, but we ended up having a fabulous time.
The Beeston Festival is a tremendous example of community building, spear-headed by people who live and incarnational life of faith. It's multicultural and multi-religious, but the impetus has really come from people like Ed who see their commitment to restoration of community as an expression of their faith.
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