A CARIBBEAN banana farmer and a campaigner from Costa Rica are among the speakers who will be telling their stories during York’s annual Fairtrade Festival.

The two-week festival, which kicked off on Monday, aims to give York residents a chance to hear how the success of Fairtrade is making a difference to the lives of millions of people across the developing world.

It will come to a climax next weekend, from Friday, March 5 to Sunday, March 7, when Parliament Street will be taken over by Fairtrade retailers selling everything from African crafts to Himalayan clothes.

On the Saturday, there will also be a celebration of Fairtrade in St Sampson’s Square, with street entertainment from Blackbeard’s Tea Party, Saxofun and York Samba.

Schools across the city are also getting into the festival spirit, with a host of lessons.

Park Grove Primary School is hosting a Ghana Party on March 6, starting at 7pm, to celebrate York’s ten-year link with the country’s Fanteakwa area. There will be entertainment from Transglobal drummers, music from Chechelele acapella choir and the chance to taste Ghanaian food.

Tickets cost £5 for adults and £2.50 for children, including food and drink. To book, email tricia.castle@talktalk.net Meanwhile, a third of all churches in the York area are now registered with the Fairtrade Foundation and many will be holding coffee mornings during the festival, which is being co-ordinated by the York Fairtrade Forum.

Next Tuesday Hugo Villela from Costa Rica will be talking at an event in City Screen’s Basement Bar, starting at 7.15pm. Mr Villela works for Shared Interest, helping poor farmers across Central America to get their goods on the international Fairtrade market.

He was a winner of the 2008 Alternative Rich List, which recognises people who have enriched the lives of others rather than themselves.

On Friday, March 5, Nioka Abbott, a banana farmer from the Windward Islands in the Caribbean, will give a talk at York St John University, starting at 7.30pm. She was involved with the campaign against the efforts of big banana corporations in South America to squeeze smaller suppliers out of international markets.

All events are free.