COLCHESTER’S diverse heritage will be the centre point of a weekend of events taking place as part of Gift.

Directed and managed by Dorian Kelly, of Illuminati, Colchester’s Global Heritage event is completely free and takes place tomorrow throughout the town centre and on Sunday in Upper Castle Park.

Tomorrow has been described as a taster for Sunday’s main event although, looking at the line-up, it appears just as jam-packed.

Things kicks off in Culver Square at 11.30am, with samba drumming, Nepalese dancing, flamenco and belly dancing.

At the library in Trinity Square, highlights include Rubenstein Trunk, who play instruments they have made out of old wooden packing boxes, and Professor Addrian, who gives a unique interpretation of the Battle of Maldon.

On the Baptist Church forecourt there is street and break dancing, as well as Indian dohl drumming, while Trinity Street will be the place to watch the Colchester Morris Men and the town’s salsa club.

On Sunday, from 11am to 7pm, Castle Park will be brought alive with the sights and sounds of the world.

The official opening takes place at 11.30am, with special guest Souad Faress, the stage, radio, television and film actress, born in Ghana to Irish and Syrian parents. She is now best known for her portrayal of the solicitor Usha Gupta in the long-running BBC Radio 4 serial the Archers.

With four main performance spaces, entertainers range from Colchester’s community singing troupe, Quire, to Ghurka, Indian and Bulgarian folk dances. There will also be dancing from the town’s Boudica Samba and an old English mummers play, performed by one of Colchester’s newly-formed groups, the Hundred Men.

There is a spoken word tent and a workshop tent where you can try your hand at various forms of dance.