10 July 2012
This year's Big Cheese festival is fast approaching and the opening night is promising to be a colourful and exciting affair, with people of all different nationalities joining in on the Olympic themed celebrations.
Ruth Chukoury and her family, from Caerphilly, plan to bring a little piece of paradise to this year's festival, as they proudly wave the flag for the small island of Mauritius during the festival's opening event, the Parade of Nations, on Friday 27th July.
Ruth met her husband Reshad, in Cheltenham before he followed her home to Wales where they married and settled with their two children. Reshad proposed to Ruth during a visit to the African island of Mauritius, where many of his family still reside. Each year, during the Big Cheese weekend, Reshad's mother, father and sister join his family in Wales and this year they will all be taking part in the parade.
Ruth said, "I believe it is important to celebrate all aspects of my children's heritage and by joining the parade it will combine the Welsh and Mauritian cultures in an evening of celebration. We are really looking forward to the event and to meeting people of all different nationalities.
"We will be wearing our national costume and flying the flag of Mauritius during the parade, whose colours are red, blue, yellow and green. The country adopted the flag upon its independence on the 12th March 1968 and each colour of the flag has a special meaning. Red represents freedom, blue the colour of the Indian Ocean, yellow the sunshine and green represents the agriculture of Mauritius."
Reshad's parents met in England during the 1970's, when the British government were recruiting for nurses from overseas. They trained in Basingstoke where they eventually settled to raise their family. The ties with Mauritius are still very strong with a large portion of their family still residing there.
This is Caerphilly's moment to shine and people of all nationalities are encouraged to join in on the excitement. The parade will begin at Twyn Community Centre at 6:30pm, then make its way to the Big Cheese site where a large plasma screen will broadcast the live Olympic opening ceremony. The evening will conclude with a spectacular firework display at 10:15pm marking the beginning of a whole weekend of celebrations.
If you want to take part in the Parade of Nations call 01443 864265 or email communicationsunit@caerphilly.gov.uk for more details.
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