Celebrating Legacy, Culture & Community: Windrush Weekend Returns to Oxford

Posted June 18, 2025

As Windrush Day approaches, Indie Oxford Member Fusion Arts is getting ready for a powerful weekend of reflection, celebration, and community connection. This year’s Windrush Weekend honours the enduring legacy of the Windrush Generation, centring Black British history, creativity, and resilience through a rich programme of events taking place across the city.

Now in its seventh year, Oxford’s Windrush celebrations continue to grow in depth and meaning. This year’s theme reflects on the presence and contributions of the Black Diaspora in Britain long before the arrival of the Empire Windrush in 1948.

“Some say that multi-cultralism in Britain has not worked! As a product of the Windrush Generation, arriving in the UK in 1966, and being educated, living, working and raising a family here, I am deeply aware of the enormous impact we have had on all aspects of contemporary Britain. This weekend honours those that came before us, paving the way, and in whose footsteps we now walk and leave our mark”- Euton Daley MBE

Kicking off the festival on Friday 20th June (19:00-22:00), Sounds of the FRONTLINE invites audiences to reminisce and dance as DJs take us on a sonic journey through the rhythms of the Caribbean and wider diaspora—sounds rooted in resistance, joy, and cultural connection.

Drumming & Roots Reggae by Natty Mark Samuels; live performance from Zethu Maseko and Shumba Youth; DJ Euton playing Lovers Rock, Soca and hi-life.

Running alongside is FRONTLINE, a bold new exhibition by interdisciplinary artist Ryan Hawaii. This early-career retrospective brings together fifteen years of creative exploration in fashion, textiles, painting, and design. On view at Fusion Arts on Park End Street until 5 July, FRONTLINE is not to be missed.

On Saturday 21st June (12:00-16:00), Westgate Oxford comes alive with a free, family-friendly drop-in day of creative and cultural activities.

Explore Windrush heritage with the Museum of Oxford’s Caribbean Living Room and learn about Oxford’s Windrush community. Craft your own Ankara headdress with Oxford Brookes University and join in a global celebration linking Oxford to Lagos. Age UK Oxfordshire will host creative ageing sessions—gentle seated dance, textile crafts, and collage making—alongside support information for older adults.

At the Pitt Rivers Museum, Musical Fusion: Africa to the Caribbean invites participants to explore Caribbean music and rhythm through interactive workshops. The Ashmolean Museum presents Shedding Light, a new community-curated display tracing ceramics and the history of sugar in the Caribbean. Grandma’s Hands, presented by Kuumba Nia Arts, offers space to share stories of grandmotherly wisdom. Meanwhile, over at the Central Library from 14:30, don’t miss a themed story time and craft session for children and families to celebrate Windrush Day.

On Sunday 22nd June (10.30-17:00), the Windrush Weekend culminates in a day of reflection, remembrance, and learning at John Bunyan Church with a memorial service, community lunch, and the annual Windrush Memorial Lecture.

The day begins with a heartfelt service led by Dr Yvette Hutchinson, exploring this year’s theme: “Look at What the Lord Has Done.”

They are honoured to welcome Rev’d Dr Pamela Daniel as this year’s keynote speaker. Her lecture, “They Came Before Windrush,” challenges the common misconception that Caribbean people only arrived in the UK after 1948. Drawing on history, lived experience, and scholarship, Rev’d Dr Daniel will shine a light on the deep-rooted presence and contributions of Caribbean communities in Britain long before the arrival of the Empire Windrush. A pioneering figure, Rev’d Dr Pamela Daniel is the first woman of African Caribbean heritage to be ordained in the Diocese of Oxford. Originally from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, she brings a rich and wide-ranging background in theology, Canon Law, sociology, and education. Her lifelong commitment to justice—both social and environmental—as well as her work in advocacy, mentoring, and community building, makes her an especially powerful and timely voice for this year’s lecture.