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Thousands flock to city for independence festival

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BBC News, West Midlands
Marcia Pinnock A crowd of people at the 0121 Jamaica festivalMarcia Pinnock
Denise Campbell A crowd of people at the 0121 Jamaica festivalDenise Campbell
Thousands of people flocked to the city centre for all three days of the festival.
The event was held to mark Jamaica's 62nd year of independence.

Thousands of people have flocked to Birmingham city centre to celebrate Jamaican Independence Day.

The three-day Jamaica 0121 Festival saw Victoria Square being transformed from Friday with an array of food stalls, entertainers and workshops.

Hosted by the Noir Rose Group, organisers said the free event attracted families from across the UK.

Denise Campbell, who attended the festival on Sunday, said: "For me they don’t recognise this day in Liverpool so I was happy to come out and celebrate with my people."

Denise Campbell The photo shows Kristina Gordon, windrush carnival queen as well as windrush carnival first runner up Sarafina Mitchell and second runner up Keyoni LawrenceDenise Campbell
The winner of this year's Windrush Carnival, Kristina Gordon (left), also took part in the celebrations along with the carnival's two runners up, Keyoni Lawrence (centre) and Sarafina Mitchell

Independence Day is a national holiday in Jamaica which commemorates 6 August 1962, the day the country gained independence from the United Kingdom.

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