Oswald Road Street Party
Tue 05 Jun 2012
It was a well organised event with little consideration for those attending. More VIPs were present and aware of it than the residents.
It started as a photo opportunity for all VIPs outside Southall Town Hall at 10am. Around 11am the army band led those gathered along the Broadway to Oswald Road. There was no sign of any street party until 1:30pm.
The guests included:
- Virendra Sharma, MP for Ealing Southall
- Seema Malhotra MP for Feltham and Heston
- Dr Onkar Sahota, GLA member representing Ealing & Hillingdon
- Julian Bell, Ealing Council leader
The organiser and presenter said that rain was expected later in the day. She then continued to delay the start of the party until 1:30 pm by countless speeches and award ceremonies.
All those gathered wished the Queen a very Happy Anniversary and hoped that Prince Phillips gets well soon.
There was free food available in the afternoon but only at two locations in the whole street resulting in long queues. One food location was the Gurdwara and the other opposite giving a single piece of Jalebi after queuing for a long time. Do you keep on listening to the speeches or go for the food? There was only one stage and only 2 stalls. Not many people would classify that as a street party.
One attendee commented that there was nothing for young children apart from boring speeches until 1:30 pm. Nothing much followed afterwards.
The event was primarily aimed at the national media who got awards for turning up and broadcasting the event at some stage. The secondary beneficiaries were community groups who all got awards. The third beneficiary was the organisers and sponsors who each got an award. It was important to ensure no contributor to the event was left out. The fourth beneficiaries were the performing artists. The residents had to stand through it all until 1:30 pm. Only the VIP had chairs.
Only 45 minute later it started to drizzle and it rained for the remainder of the day.
Due to Oswald road being off Southall Broadway, a busy place and the loud music being heard in the surrounding street, there was reasonable turnout throughout the day. Things improved a lot but they had to endure the rain.
All the different communities of Southall came together as one big happy family and enjoyed the occasion.
Some of the artists present were:- Host was Mr. Sukhvir Sodhi
- Kumar and Dhami of Heera
- Kulwant Bhamra of Apna Sangeet
- Channi Singh, a pioneer of Bhangra
- Rafiq Hazarvi
Two individuals deserving awards were those who had served the community for more than 60 years.
The street was cordoned off and well decorated and empty of all vehicles. There was a proper stage and VIP seating area in front of it.
The party was meant to start at 10am. The organisers were more interested in filming the event so it can be broadcast nationally and less interested in the needs of the residents.
Local residents were unaware as to what had been organised. Neither did anyone have a clue as to what was happening when. There was no known agenda or itinerary. Not even the performers knew what time they were to perform.
Most people cannot stay all day, on their feet, in the rain, just to see the bit they were interested in. It was more like a political event with awards for the boys than a street party. A street party is meant to be for the benefit of the local residents.
Never have so many awards been awarded to so many in a single day.
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