International Service, York’s overseas development agency, is marking 20 years of children’s rights with Jamia, a celebratory event in the Dean’s Park at York Minster next Wednesday, December 9.

Taking place inside giant PapaKata teepee tents, Jamia is a showcase of global music, poetry, dance, drumming and song, where “performers drawn from across York and Yorkshire will represent the vibrant array of global cultures and traditions on our very own doorstep”.

The winners of International Service’s annual human rights awards feature in the day’s programme too, giving people the opportunity to hear their stories from Brazil, Mali and Palestine.

Jamia is divided into two parts: from 11am to 4pm, it is be a free public event; from 7pm to 10pm, it turns into a ticket-only evening event that includes supper, a glass of mulled wine on arrival and a programme of entertainment in the lantern-lit teepees.

Tickets for the evening are available in advance at £20 for adults, £14 for concessions, from the Minster box office, 0844 939 0015 or online at www.boxoffice.yorkminster.org

Performers at Jamia include Indian dancers Annapurna; Iranian musician Fariborz Kiannejad; kora player Seikou Susso; poet Khadijah Ibrahiim; Digital Earth; djembé drumming group Rainmaker; music ensemble The Henshaws Hotspots; Leeds Young Authors; and Brazilian Capoeira dancers.

As part of the day’s celebrations, International Service will run a schools’ event from 10.30am to 3pm in the Guildhall, where nearly 200 pupils from six local primary schools will take part in creative activities to engage with the themes of children’s rights and world cultures.

Did you know?

International Service is an overseas development charity working in Latin America, West Africa and the Middle East to combat poverty and oppression in practical ways. The York agency has a special focus on women, children and people with disabilities “because we know from experience that they are most in need of support and solidarity”.