On Sunday, various Shakers were revelling in “Community is Home”, UpRise’s 2011 Festival happening across 14 venues in Dalston, Hackney. The day was bright and warm, and the vibe was fantastic. Boris Johnson’s decision to remove funding from the original “Rise” Festival did not deter the many committed individuals and organisations from making this incredibly important festival happen for the second year running. Huge noise for Paul Richards and the team..Yay!

It really did feel this good

From hanging out in the Eastern Curve Garden eating stone-baked pizza among the vegetable beds to listening to a stella line-up on the Dalston Roof Park, to shaking your bones to Aruba Red, it was a fantastic day. Trades Union stall holders, campaigners from the featured charities “2 Fingers to Violence” and “Medecins sans Frontieres”, and happy festival-goers of all ages strolled, talked, enjoyed, and stitched it all together. There is no better way to snub all those who want to portray this part of London in a negative light.

Shakers were there and our very own performance poet and facilitator Simon Murray (aka Sai Murai) facilitated a poetry workshop called “Breathing Space” for the Numbi night at Open the Gate. Only hours later those same workshop poets were taking the mic and pouring fresh and vital words into our waiting ears. Brilliant day, brilliant night, and Shake’s looking forward to more collaborations with our friends at UpRise and 2 Fingers to Violence.