Celebration of Samba in the South West, Street Heat at Twenty, Saturday 14th May, Exeter Quay
On Saturday 14 May, Exeter’s premier samba band, Street Heat, will be hosting a birthday bash on the quay in Exeter to celebrate twenty years of samba.
Since its inception in 1991 the band has, without a doubt, gone on to achieve its one central aim which was to bring the sounds of Brazilian ‘carnaval’ to Devon.
In fact, in twenty years, the band has surpassed even its own expectations and brought its unique buzz to events as diverse as Witheridge Fayre and Portland Prison to Notting Hill Carnival and Glastonbury Festival and has played in locations as far as Nice and Berlin.
From its beginning, the band intended to be more than a percussion group (a bateria), and in its twenty year history, it is now as well known for its look as it is the music.
To complement the band’s traditional flamboyant ‘flames’ costume which has been its signature look, the band have recently created an entirely new costume which is made up of the colours of a peacock (blue, purple, green and turquoise). Along with the gigs and the costume, over the years the band has been a friend to hundreds of players, both past and present and raised pots of money for different charities.
With all this in mind, members of the band felt that they simply could not overlook the fact that, after twenty years, Street Heat continues to flourish and has not lost any of its passion for samba.
To help celebrate these achievements, they have set about creating a free event in Exeter which starts at 11am and will showcase some of the different samba bands from around the south west.
Bands include Street Heat (obviously), Vamanos, Truro School of Samba, Energia, Oi Sambistas, Samba Sol, Crooked Tempo, Samba Celtica, and Blackdown Samba to name just a few! The music will be interspersed with singers, dancers and street entertainment.
The showcase will culminate in all the bands performing a single piece of samba together, starting at around 18:15. The evening celebrations will then take place at the Port Royal (also on the quayside) starting from 7pm.
The samba band Vamanos will be playing alongside popular covers band The Magic Worms. Of course, no birthday would be complete without cake and as such complimentary birthday cake will be available to all! The band will be donating money raised on the day to Devon Air Ambulance.
For more information about the band visit http://www.street-heat.co.uk
Find them on Facebook or telephone 07895904139.
Hear Street Heat on Phonic FM on Roots and Shoots on Monday 9 May between 6 and 8pm and on The Multifarious Mix between 5 and 6pm on Wednesday 10 May.