Ports Fest 2023: Ignite the Phoenix as 432 Nomads bring local and migrant artists together

Each day’s show will feature a mixture of local and migrant artists including live bands, rappers, poets, acoustic musicians and street dancers.​

Co-founder of the 432 Nomads Rishky Patel explains the idea behind them: ‘I actually came up with the company concept almost five years ago. It was one of those epiphanies where all of the things I've studied, and been exposed to, had an interest in, it all kind of accumulated in one idea, and over time it's progressed and formulated into 432 Nomads.

‘About eight months ago I got in touch with Majid [Dhana, who performs poetry as JidosReality] – he's a brilliant individual and a great business partner, and an incredible asset.

‘We got together and we were doing some work for the City of Sanctuary to encourage creative writing. Through that we were exposed to so much talent, we sat down and thought: “Right we need to do something with this!”

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‘The idea of inclusivity through compassion kind of birthed 432 Nomads. The idea of it is all about supporting migrant artists.

Britain itself is built on that empire, colonial evolution that really created a massive demographic of individuals from all over the place - from all over the world, to create what we now know as our British culture. We wanted to highlight that.

‘We are both migrant artists – I was born here, but I've lived in many places around the world and then found my way back here. My parents, and grandparents both came from east Africa during the Idi amin situation.’ The brutal dictator expelled the Indian minority from Uganda in 1972.

‘For myself it's more of a generational plight that I want to discuss and overcome, that I want to highlight. ‘For Majid it's firsthand,’ he came to the UK from Zimbabwe in 2002, ‘and that combination is what allows us to get our message out and allows us to go on our mission so strongly.’

While Rishky and Majid did have some concerns about how their work would be received, the feedback as all been very positive.

‘It's been fantastic, we've been received so much better than we thought we would. Because of the current state of affairs, Majid and I did have a moment where we though, is this going to be received negatively in any way? But that's the main reason we decided to do it with love and art because that's not something you can easily hate on.

‘Even if you might not like someone's background or culture, or be open to their reason for being here, without knowing any of that, if you hear a good voice you're immediately going to like it, or be drawn to it. That's already striped down that barrier of integration.

‘Rather than being out there and trying to protest or preach a message, we're trying to integrate people and show real compassion. Show that there's more to people than their online story, or what you hear about them on the news – they're individuals, every one of them, and they're also artists.’

Each day has a different theme and location, June 28 is Rebirth at the Loft, Southsea; 29 is Warmth at The Royal Albert, Southsea, 8pm; 30 is Strength at The Bold Forester, Southsea, 7pm; July 1 is Ashes at The Coastguard Studio, Southsea, midday; and 2 from 11am is Regeneration at Gunwharf Quays.

For more information and to book free tickets go to portsfest.co.uk.