Multi Faith Partnership in Town Hall showcase

'The Mayor, Cllr Jean Hornby with husband Barry, Imtiaz Ahmed and Simon Danczuk

The Mayor and the Bishop of Middleton were just two of the hundreds of guests on Saturday 3 March when Rochdale Town Hall hosted a coming together of faiths to display information and present a showcase of song and dance from many traditions.

The showcase was the final exhibition following three more formal events in previous weeks in Heywood, Middleton and Littleborough, where faiths displayed information about themselves and how they celebrated births and marriages and commemorated deaths. There was also a great emphasis on social need and justice. These events finished with question and answer sessions.

Much less formal was the Rochdale event with the arts being prominent through song and dance from different traditions. Contributions included Kids Praise, dance in worship, a Muslim rapper, classical Hindu dancing, Christian organ music, the Middleton Maypole and two white women who liked Bollywood music so much that they had taught themselves to dance to it. Food was varied and preceded by verses from the Quran. Participants were free to either sit and watch the acts or wander round the stalls and digest the information. Fair Trade products were also on sale.

One small disappointment was the lack of politicians, with, apart from the Mayor, Allen Brett and Robin Parker being the only councillors. Simon Danczuk, Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Rochdale was also present.

Secretary of the Multi Faith Partnership, Imtiaz Ahmed, said that he felt this series of events had been successful. He added: "If we are going to have a harmonious multi-cultural borough then it is essential that we learn about each other’s faiths and traditions. Events like these can only help that process."