Callaloo Carnival Arts UK New Word Order and Mirfield Muertos events

On Friday 30 October, my husband and I attended the New Word Order event at the West Yorkshire Print Workshop in Mirfield.  Advertised as a  Seasonal Celebration of Calypso, Parang, Soul & Spoken Word,  with Spoken Word from Saju Ahmed and Ruth Odudu plus Calypso & Parang from Alexander D Great and Sweet Soul melodies from Tray Tronic, the event promised Words & Music to loosen those cobwebs and shake you up a bit, and it certainly delivered.  The event was part of Mirfield Muertos Festival supported by Kirklees Council and Arts Council England and featured a wonderful mix of spoken word, Calypso and Soul music plus some tantalising drinks supplied by Panda's Kitchen with free tasters, they had a particularly delicious salted caramel whisky infusion and a minced pie one (their shop can be found at Byram Arcade, Huddersfield).

And if this wasn't enough, on Sunday at St. Paul's Church, Eastthorpe and Mirfield Town Centre, Huddersfield Road, Mirfield, Calloloo Arts UK celebrated the colourful Muertos Festival.  This fantastic event included a pop-up cinema, showing a seasonal selection of features and short films, and the  Mariachi Muertos who were teaching attendees how to learn to play simple tunes at their Festival Workshops. Other workshops included Muertos Makes with Callaloo Muertos Festival Artists where you could make Papel Picado, Flower Headbands or you could just chill out and colour in.

For those feeling braver though, there was Salsa Spectacular! where you could learn simple Salsa steps at their Festival Workshop or there was Day of the Dead Face Painting and Costumes to borrow for a Pop-Up Portrait, from our visiting Portrait Sideshow.  To eat, there was also a Pop-Up ChocShop from Mirfield Melting House (we enjoyed some dark chocolate buttons and chocolate brownie), plus selected Festival Food from the Finest Artisans in the area.  This included a delicious selection of Jamaican Jerk infused food from Barrington's, my daughter tried the spicy jerk chicken wrap, my husband the jerk pork pie and peas and I sampled the pumpkin wrap.

At the end of the event, it was possible to join Mirfield Mariachi Band or the Latintastic Salsa Crew at the Muertos Gran Finale at 5pm -7pm which also featured Calypso & Parang from Alexander D Great, Fabulous Frieda performance from Tanya Cusan-Espinosa, Muertos Mas from Preston Carnival's Ablaze Youth Group and Mass Mas Muertos Parade, led by Muertos Festival Artists.  You could also view a series of colourful traditional Muertos Shrines created by local Artists, in honour of lost loved ones.

This was a wonderful new edition to the creative arts programmes for the Kirklees area and one I can see growing to be bigger and better with each passing year.