London’s summer events are now in full swing following the success of the London Multicultural Festival on Sunday.
Hundreds of Londoners crowded the square outside Covent Garden Market, where vendors had set up food stalls and other interactive cultural booths. Groups of singers, musicians and dancers representing different international communities performed on a stage set up on Talbot street, which the city had closed off to traffic.
Many of London’s diverse communities were represented, including the Thai, Filipino, Chinese, Polish and Burmese communities.
The Burmese community stall at the London Multicultural Festival (credit: Jack Sutton XFM News)
The Burmese food stall was one of the popular choices for hungry attendees, serving a delicious cold noodle dish.
“The food is called, in our language, nan gyi thoke, but actually it’s a chicken noodle salad,” says one of the stall’s volunteers. “It’s a traditional noodle salad that we can eat morning, lunch or dinner.”
The plate of noodles was slightly spicy, with chunks of chicken, hard-boiled egg, raw onion and cilantro.
Nan Gyi Thoke, traditional Burmese noodle salad credit: Jack Sutton XFM News)
They said the stall had been busy all day.
“As soon as we opened…people were coming and asking ‘Are you ready? Are you ready?'”
The Burmese community in London is small, but growing, they said.
“Long ago, we only had a few families here in London,” they said. “But lately, we’ve got a lot of international students coming from our country… after that we grew to more than 500 people in the Burmese community here in London.”
This weekend was only one in a long schedule of festivals and events in London this summer. Here are some more to check out this month:
- June 13, 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. – Forest City London Music Week Latin Street Party – Marquee Block (Richmond Street to Clarence Street)
- June 14-15 – The London Beer Fest – Event Block (Ridout Street to Talbot Street)
- June 22, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. – Festa Junina – Event Block (Ridout Street to Talbot Street)
- June 29, 2 p.m. to 12 a.m. – London Burger Fest – Event Block (Ridout Street to Talbot Street)
- June 30 – Night Market London – Ridout Street to Richmond Street
You can find the full schedule for the rest of the summer here
