MOSSLEY is becoming a centre of carnival culture thanks to what began as a dream for two music-obsessed teenagers.
And its role in the movement – being home to one of only two centres in the country focused on it – will be celebrated by the arrival of two of Brazil’s legends.
Think carnival and images of Rio de Janeiro and samba beats come flooding to many people’s minds.
But Mossley, a Tameside town of 11,500 people more accustomed to mills and brass music, is one of the UK’s main hubs.
In just four years since it opened at The Vale, on Micklehurst Road, the Northern Carnival Centre of Excellence has established itself as a vibrant home for music, dance and creativity.
And in June and July, it is gearing up to welcome Guga Santos and Mestre Nilo.
Childhood friends Leon Patel and Holly Prest are behind Mossley’s carnival movement – the only other centre for it is based in Luton, Bedfordshire.
Born and raised in Mossley and Greenfield respectively, they co-founded the centre alongside Brazilian percussionist Eraldo Marques through their arts organisation Global Grooves.
After meeting as kids at a samba drumming class at Mossley Community Centre in the 1990s, they befriended Eraldo during a series of exchange visits between the UK and Brazil’s carnival capital, Sao Paulo.
And since 2021, the Northern Carnival Centre of Excellence has become a magnet for musicians, dancers, visual artists and makers, as well as many people who want to learn these skills.
It regularly hosts masterclasses, artists’ residencies and weekly dance and music sessions, as well as an annual training programme for creative 12-25-year-olds called Future Leaders.
But for them, it is not about forcing a different culture on an area steeped in tradition, it is about adapting and living alongside it.
When they heard brass bands struggled to recruit younger members, they formed The Incredible Plastic Street Band for children aged 4-12 and regularly played at events including Stalybridge Carnival and Whit Friday.
And the centre is set to fly a local Morris dancing troupe to a major European outdoor arts festival later this year.
Leon said: “A building connected through its cotton spinning and weaving past to the global slave trade now reverberates with samba-reggae from Brazil, Congolese-Cuban fusion sounds, Gambian kora playing, and of course Lancashire brass.
“And that it is in Mossley, not the centre of Manchester, makes it all the more special.
“Not least because it is my hometown, but also because it shows that important cultural centres don’t just exist in big cities, and that creativity also thrives in lesser-known places.”
Holly added: “The spirit of carnival is the spirit of community, and in every culture, people get together – in good times and bad – to sing, dance, make music, dress up and share food.
“This has always been about building something lasting – a place where local people can access the world, and where the world can find its way here.
“We don’t take our role as carnival guardians, promoters, facilitators and innovators lightly.
“It is a vocation and a life’s work – one that began as a dream in Mossley Community Centre, took us all over the world and back home again.”
Upcoming sessions at the centre include a day-long workshop of dance, music and storytelling with Congolese dance artist Ruth Asidi and Brazilian percussionist Guga Santos on Sunday, June 22, from 10am until 5pm.
Mestre Nilo, who is being flown in from Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Portela Samba School, will also put on a rare samba masterclass on Tuesday, July 15, from 7pm until 10pm.
Both events are being run on a ‘pay what you feel’ basis to make them as accessible as possible.