LEDRA/LOKMACI Streets in Nicosia are generally a hive of activity during the day, with their rows of shops, cafés, and gift shops lining the compact pedestrianised zone. But it’s tomorrow when the area will really come alive as Youth Leaders and Cultural Activists rolls into town with the One StreetS Festival.
Building on the success of the Morphou and Limassol One StreetS Festival, the Youth Leaders and Cultural Activists – an independent group of young Greek and Turkish Cypriots – will take over Ledra/Lokmaci Street, in the name of peace, tolerance and fun.
The slogan of the festival is CTR+ALT+DELETE. It relates to the key combination in Windows that enables a user to terminate an unresponsive application. In this (somewhat) laboured analogy, the festival aims to cancel/erase the ‘walls’ that exist between people of diverse ethnicities inhabiting Cyprus. The objective is to inspire dialogue and actions that bring about real social change by activating the common threads of compassion and humanity.
The first part of the festival begins in Ledra Street from 1pm to 2.30pm with a Zumba party, the international exercise craze, which incorporates Latin and salsa dance. There will be songs from the Incamsa group, a Cameroonian Choir, a King’s Cross dance performance by Dervish Gokhan Zeybek, a show by Invisible Theatres, basketball games, face painting, photo exhibitions, as well as an exhibition by well-known caricaturist Musa Kayra.
All the fun and action continues in Lokmaci Street from 2.30pm to 4pm with more music, featuring the bands Jazziez and Iptamenoi Podilates, as well as more dance from the Physixs Dance Group and Dance for Peace. Peace flags will be the order of the day and crowds will get the chance to enjoy the Diversity Bus Street Performance by TheatrETc.
Youth Leaders and Cultural Activists is a group of 25 energetic, young individuals, including Maria Papadopoulou (Project Coordinator), Deniz Urfali (Morphou Event Coordinator), Myrofora Papasofroniou (Limassol Event Coordinator), and Meltem Ikinci (Nicosia Event Coordinator).
Globally people under 25 constitute over half of the world’s population and often bear the brunt of the economic, environmental and social crises. Youth must be involved in all decision making processes to develop a common vision of the future.
Having this in mind, in her statement, Ikinci says “as a Youth Leader and Cultural Activist, I believe that it is the young people’s turn to work for ‘change’ in Cyprus. We need to be determined and acknowledge the need to embrace peace, tolerance and respect for diversity in a multicultural Cyprus”.
One StreetS Festival Nicosia thus provides a wonderful opportunity to send out this message. By facilitating social interaction between the diverse communities, it can help to promote the idea that we can indeed achieve ‘change’ and co-exist peacefully.
Ikinci goes on to explain “what we need to do is bring down the ‘walls’ between us. I sincerely hope that this festival will help us reach our goals and reconcile the physically divided Lokmaci and Ledra Streets as ‘One StreetS’.”
One StreetS Festival is supported by Youth Power: Shaping Our Future and funded by UNDP’s initiative in Cyprus Action for Cooperation and Trust. Youth Power consists of 12 Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot organisations working together to support youth development and activism throughout Cyprus.
One StreetS Festival
Youth Leaders and Cultural Activists take over the streets with music, dance and street performances in the name of peace, tolerance and fun. December 10. Ledra/Lokmaci Street in Nicosia. 1pm-4pm. Tel: +357 99318400/+90 533 8696399. www.multiculturalcyprus.org
