'Festival helps communities understand each other'
BBCOrganisers of a two-day festival in a city have said the event has helped different communities "understand the people who live alongside them".
The Peterborough Celebrates Festival is being held at Ferry Meadows in Nene Park this weekend, with celebrations taking place until 16:00 BST on Sunday.
Stephanie Peachey, from the Nene Park Trust, said the free festival began five years ago as a way to thank local communities in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic.
She explained: "Community is such a major part of Peterborough as a city... We have so many great community groups here, some really committed cultures and celebrations."
"It was a real opportunity to bring it all in to one place, profile it all, get people to engage with it and understand the people who live alongside them," she continued.
Each year the festival is themed and this year's title is "A Page in Peterborough's Story", with schools and community groups being encouraged to share their stories of what the city means to them.
Peachey praised various groups taking part in this year's event including Lithuanian dancers, choirs and acrobatic troupes.
Planning for the event begins soon after the previous year's festival ends, Peachey said, with bookings typically accelerating at the start of the year.
When reflecting on how it began, she said: "It was a city wide-celebration to say thank you to everybody who supported all of their friends, family and communities during the pandemic.
"That felt like a really important thing to be doing, to be celebrating community and what community means... and just celebrate all the things that are great about Peterborough."
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