Bristol launches as a city that welcomes those who are fleeing persecution in their homelands. Bristol laudable aims are to show common humanity and not narrow-minded prejudice.

Join the celebrations!  On Wednesday 22nd June College Green and Bristol Cathedral are going to be overrun with singers, dancers, musicians and surprises.  Civic leaders and representatives of different faiths will be there.  This free event marks Bristol’s new status as a City of Sanctuary, offering support and welcome to those fleeing war and persecution.

At 4.15pm, after a Civic Welcome in the Council House, hundreds of people will form a procession and snake their way across the Green performing an Umbrella Dance.  It will be led by a succession of musicians – and everyone will carry an umbrella emblazoned with the City of Sanctuary logo.  The procession pauses at the Hazel Dome, allowing people to weave coloured cloth between the Dome’s shafts and to tie pledges, prayers and poems to it to turn it from a bare skeleton into a vibrant shelter.

At 5pm we enter the Cathedral – and for the next hour are treated to a dozen performance slots in different parts of this beautiful building.  Music, dance, poetry and song will take us on a physical, emotional and symbolic journey.  Brief statements from representatives of 8 different faiths, and of those with no faith, will underline the universal nature of the event.  And at 6pm half-muffled bells round off the event with a mix of celebration and reflection. Full article