NEWPORT and Zimbabwe will come together at this year’s Maindee Festival.

Members of the Maindee Festival Association have established a partnership with the Grassroots Theatre Company of Bulawayo to form Grassroots Cymru.

And now the team have been passing on their skills and knowledge to children at St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Primary School in Newport who will perform at this Saturday’s festival.

The theatre company has been working with the children to put together a performance entitled ‘Power to the People’, which will portray a message about the problems of fuel use in developing countries through the medium of song, dance and theatre.

The partnership was established after John Hallam of Maindee Festival Association visited rural Zimbabwe in April as Grassroots performed at the Sanganisai Children’s Festival.

The Zimbabwe festival uses traditional dance, song and music with drama to highlight issues including child safety, sexual exploitation and HIV and AIDS.

Grassroots visit the UK every year for a tour to work with schoolchildren around the country highlighting issues the children choose. They also do work in prisons.

Head teacher Stephen Dunford said: “It really raises the issue to the children that it is a different world out there and it is great for them to be able to talk to and work with people from other cultures.

“They have established a genuine friendship.”

Mr Hallam said: “We hope one day that we will be able to take children from here out to Zimbabwe and bring children from Zimbabwe here.”

The festival will take place on Saturday at Maindee Primary School from 1pm until 7pm.

The ‘Power to the People’ parade will leave Newport Rugby Ground at noon.

Grassroots will also be performing ‘Africa Heart and Soul’ this Tuesday at Community House, Eton Road at 7.30pm.

Tickets are £3.50 for adults and £2 for concessions.

For more information, visit www.maindee.org