St Barnabas Community Fete (Bowstock) is an annual festival (or fête

Fête

Fête is a French word meaning festival, celebration or party, which has passed into English as a label that may be given to certain events.-Description:It is widely used in England and Australia in the context of a village fête,...

) held on Wennington Green in Mile End Park

Mile End Park

Mile End Park is a park located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a linear park of some , and was created on industrial land devastated by World War II bombing...

, Bow, London

Bow, London

Bow is an area of London, England, United Kingdom in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a built-up, mostly residential district located east of Charing Cross, and is a part of the East End.-Bridges at Bowe:...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is run by local volunteers, who started the fete in 2003 as a non-religious, participatory, free and not-for-profit festival to:

• bring residents of all ages, faiths, abilities and races together for an afternoon of family fun & entertainment to celebrate the good things in the neighbourhood
• draw attention to local issues in areas such as education, health, crime and the environment
• encourage volunteering and community action.

Big names (including Babar Luck

Babar Luck

Babar Luck is a songwriter and musician based in the UK. Born in Pakistan in 1970 & moving to London at the age of 8 years, Babar Luck found solace in the world & sounds of music....

, The Beat

The Beat (band)

The Beat are a 2 Tone ska revival band founded in England in 1978. Their songs fuse ska, pop, soul, reggae and punk rock, and their lyrics deal with themes of love, unity and sociopolitical topics....

, Black Daniel, The Blockheads, The Bollywood Brass Band, Chas'n'Dave, Saynab Cige, The Dhol Foundation

Dhol Foundation

The Dhol Foundation is both a dhol drum institute in London and a musical group playing bhangra music. The dhol school was founded in 1989 by former Alaap member Johnny Kalsi when several musicians asked him to be their teacher, and a first album was released by Kalsi and his students in 2001...

, Heavy Load, Joi, Finley Quaye

Finley Quaye

Finley Quaye is a British musician. He won the 1997 Mobo Award for best reggae act, and the 1998 BRIT Award for Best British Male Solo Artist.-Life:...

 (a surprise guest at the first fete in 2003), Alaur Rahman, DJ Ritu, Sham 69

Sham 69

Sham 69 is an English punk band that formed in Hersham in 1976.Although not as commercially successful as many of their contemporaries, albeit with a greater number of chart entries, Sham 69 has been a huge musical and lyrical influence on the Oi! and streetpunk genres. The band allegedly derived...

, Neville Staple, U.K Subs, and Jah Wobble

Jah Wobble

Jah Wobble is an English bass guitarist, singer, poet and composer. He became known to a wider audience as the original bass player in Public Image Ltd in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but left the band after two albums...

) play alongside acts from local schools and the community.

Around the live music stage, the organisers provide an information marketplace for community groups, and a range of activities for all ages, including a tea dance and extreme sports.

The 2007 St Barnabas Community Fete featured as a case study in the 'Community' section of the Living Britain report published by Zurich and The Future Laboratory, which includes an interview with the fete's director, Father Brian Ralph.