Be part of a UK and Europe wide kite flying festival in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan
Join us at Fly With Me from 2pm on Saturday 20 August 2022 at Platt Fields Park in Fallowfield, Manchester, M14 6LA.
Together with MIF and HOME, we’re proud to be a partner in Fly With Me, the multi-city UK and European kite flying festival, developed by Good Chance Theatre, award-winning co-creators of The Walk with Little Amal.
The kite fly at Platt Fields Park from 2pm on Saturday 20 August will feature kites made by local communities who’ve learnt to make a kite from scratch in special artist-led workshops.
CAN is delighted to be part of the project with our 20-year history as a pioneering arts organisation – one of the first – working with refugee artists, communities, and their allies. We are very proud to be an award-winning organisation for our ground-breaking Exodus programme. We were recognised in the Lloyds Bank Foundation Regional Charity Achievement Awards 2015 and Cilla Baynes, our previous Creative Director, won a WOW award for Exodus.
Fly With Me celebrates the ancient Afghan craft of kite-making in an act of aerial solidarity with the people of Afghanistan. Fly With Me will raise awareness of asylum and Afghan refugees who are now in the UK.
The festival remembers the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban on 20 August 2021.
The ancient craft of kite-flying, alongside music, theatre, and dance, was previously banned by the Taliban during their earlier twenty-year-long occupation of the country.
Be part of the event by making and flying your own kite
Learn how to make an authentic Afghan kite. Materials needed include just a few wooden skewers, some tissue paper and string – discover what you need here
Watch a video lesson on how to make a kite with Afghan master kite-maker Sanjar Qiam.
Fly With Me calls on the UK Government to treat all people seeking asylum fairly and equally, including those from Afghanistan
Afghanistan is experiencing one of the most devastating humanitarian crises in the world. More than 23 million people – over half the population – face acute hunger according to the UNICEF World Food Programme. Of the 16,000 Afghan refugees evacuated by the UK last year, 12,000 remain housed in unsuitable temporary accommodation, unable to cook for themselves or integrate into the local community.
As the UK shifts its focus elsewhere, the Home Office has slashed the number of Afghan refugees allowed into the UK. The Afghan Resettlement Scheme has stalled. Public awareness is dwindling.
Fly With Me invites people from all backgrounds, regardless of race, nationality, or religious beliefs, to come together and fly a kite – sending a message to the world to ‘Remember Afghanistan’.
Fly With Me calls for all refugees to be treated with respect and receive an open-hearted welcome in the UK and mainland Europe.
Come and join the event and be connected to Brighton, Bradford, Dover, Folkestone, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Northamptonshire, Scunthorpe, Sheffield in the UK, and Berlin, Pas-de-Calais, Paris, Copenhagen, and Barcelona in Europe.
Fly With Me is delivered in collaboration with lead humanitarian partner Afghanaid, raising funds for their ‘By Her Side’ match-funding campaign to support women in rural Afghan communities.
#FlyWithMe
#RememberAfghanistan
Photos: Alice Denny (Good Chance) and Eric Deniaud
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