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Welcome to EOA

EOA offers both direct project delivery and consultancy. Having been a highly successful local regeneration agency EOA now operates across the UK and in Europe.

Cowley Road Carnival

carnival

As part of its ongoing commitment to the East Oxford area East Oxford Action continues to organise the Cowley Road Carnival, Oxfordshire’s largest community event drawing over 25,000 people to the Cowley Road in Oxford and generating over £1 million in income for the local economy.

This is a truly multi-cultural event, which celebrates the area's diverse communities, whilst  bringing them together in a huge party on Oxford's Cowley Road. Over 1000 local people, artists, schools and performers work together to develop music, dance, costume, theatre and  performance, supplemented and supported by the UK's best carnival and street theatre  performers.

In 2007 the packed performance programme included ska, indy, jazz, folk, hip hop, calypso, samba, gospel, brass bands and dhol groups; break-beat, gumboot, flamenco and belly-dancers; performance poetry; bicycle-powered bugs; larger than life street performances from child-enveloping slinkies to Victorian freak-shows; DJs and sound systems; circus workshops and a full carnival procession of 350 adults and school children singing, dancing and performing in full costume, to mention just a few!

For more on the Carnival visit its dedicated website on

http://www.cowleyroadcarnival.org

Or email carnival@eastoxford.com

Culture &  regeneration

crowds

Cultural activities play an important part in EOA’s approach to regeneration.They have a role in establishing and reinforcing a positive image for the area, as well as building social capital — encouraging community involvement, and cross-community activity. Cultural enterprises are often the leaders in investing in disadvantaged areas.

EOA offers training and consultancy in the use of culture (especially carnivals and similar large street events) in regeneration. EOA has recently completed an evaluation on the subject. For information on EOA's approach to evaluation download:
Empowerment Evaluation pdf format


Cowley Road Carnival has been a massively important as part of EOA's regeneration strategy for the Cowley Road.  EOA has produced a briefing paper on the subject available for download:

Carnivals and regeneration (pdf format)

Culture and Inclusion

asian women

Culture and cultural events such as carnivals can be a major force for social inclusion. EOA has experience of using a wide range of cultural activities to enable inclusion of excluded groups, for example EOA uses visual arts in its delivery of inclusive consultation - for example through participatory video, and through art projects such as the Asian Women's Banners Project (see picture above).

EOA offers training and consultancy on how to use culture to increase inclusion.

See also:
Inclusion page


Street trading at events

EOA offers training for businesses and sole traders wishing to have street trading stalls, including food stalls, at open-air events. EOA also offers training and consultancy to event management organisations wishing to have street traders at their events.

For more information contact business@eastoxford.com.