THE free Colchester Rice and Spice festival is set to return this weekend celebrating diversity within the city.

The people of Colchester are invited to a free day out, full of differing cuisines, music from different cultures and fun performances.

The festival is centred around the broad theme of rice and spice, a theme which encompasses many cultures across the city, underpinning the broad spectrum of culture within Colchester.

The festival aims to create an opportunity and platform various communities in Colchester, allowing them to showcase and share their heritages through food, dance, music, performances, visual arts and traditional clothing.

The annual event is organised by the Colchester Minority Ethnic Forum and aims to bring together communities together, in order to celebrate the city’s diversity.

The network of organisations involved represents a wide range of ethnic communities sharing their cultures with one another.

A spokesman for the event said: “These communities invite the people of Colchester and surrounding areas to join them in celebrating the rich diverse culture of our city.”

The event will take place on Saturday, September 10, from noon to 5pm. The free day out will be hosted at Firstsite’s community garden.