HUNDREDS turned out for a multi-cultural celebration at The Mead Community Primary School’s Festival of Nations on Saturday, with activities and entertainment from countries across the world.

The event, which was held at the school’s Hilperton site in Hackett Place, featured live music and dance, games, crafts and activities from 21 different countries, including Japan, Italy and Poland.

It was funded by the Big Lottery and Friends of the Mead School, with support from The Mead Community Primary School and The Mead Academy Trust.

The cultural activities on offer included African drumming, making wind chimes, grape-stomping and a chopstick challenge, while there were performances from Bollywood Brass, Pantasy Steel Band, Bath Samba and Wiltshire Young Singers.

Mel Jacob, a school governor who helped organise the event, said: “It was fantastic and we had perfect weather. We had lots of people enjoying the sun and the activities on offer.

“It was a different kind of event to our science day last year, but we had a similar turnout with around 1,000 people visiting us during the day, including lots of children from different schools.

“We started off with a parade of an art project we did with Larkrise School’s resident artist Becky Churchill, where children from our school, Larkrise, Holt, Castle Mead, River Mead and John of Gaunt designed umbrellas using their cultural heritage.

“There were over 200 taking part in the parade and then we had all of the activities and entertainment, including some fantastic performances from the different bands.”

Visitors to the Festival of Nations day were given a “passport” to the different cultural exhibits and activities, which they were able to get stamped on their way around the stalls – with Clarendon Academy running one of the countries.

As part of the day, the school also made a film about the event with a special appearance from a teacher dressed as Trowbridge baron Henry de Bohun, who travelled in time to see how Trowbridge changed since 1215.

Mrs Jacob added: “The film sees what Henry de Bohun would think of Trowbridge if he was transported in time to present day and we had fantastic support from Trowbridge Museum for the costume.

“The whole day was a great celebration between the schools and the community and it brought everyone together. We were thrilled with how it went and want to thank everyone for making it such a wonderful occasion.”