RISE Projects Hosts Its 4th Annual Somali Culture Night
RISE Projects’ fourth annual Somali Culture Night brought more than 300 people together in Tottenham for an evening of music, poetry, fashion, food and cultural celebration. Four years after beginning as a smaller community gathering, the event is becoming a tradition in its own right.
A celebration that has grown with the community
On 30 October 2025, Pretoria Road Community Centre filled with families, performers, community leaders and residents for the fourth edition of RISE Projects’ Somali Culture Night.
What began four years earlier as a smaller cultural gathering has grown into one of the most important dates in RISE’s community calendar. This year, more than 300 people came through the doors, including residents, local councillors, community leaders and the Mayor of Haringey.
Taking place during Black History Month, the evening created space for Somali heritage to be celebrated publicly and confidently in the heart of Tottenham. It was an opportunity for different generations to share the same room, experience traditional and contemporary culture and recognise the contribution Somali communities continue to make to Haringey.
More than an audience
Somali Culture Night works because the community is not simply watching. People participate, perform, dance, share stories, bring their families and help create the atmosphere themselves.
Culture in motion
The programme moved through traditional Somali music, poetry, dance, fashion, food and cultural artefacts. Live performances were followed by poetry readings, participatory dance and cultural displays that gave guests different ways to experience Somali history and identity.
Local businesses also formed part of the evening, with cultural displays including fashion from Dhalaal and fragrances from 2ScentFragrances. Bringing local enterprise into the event is part of what makes Somali Culture Night feel rooted in the community rather than separated from it.
Performances from Muna Xafiis, Cabdi Maaxi Munye, Shukri Cultural Group and Faarax Murtiile brought different forms of music, performance and humour onto the stage, before the evening moved towards a lively finale.
Why creating cultural space matters
Cultural events can sometimes be treated as an addition to community work. For RISE, they are part of the work itself. Culture creates another route through which people can meet, participate and feel that their identity has a visible place within the borough.
That matters particularly across generations. A cultural event can allow older residents to see traditions recognised while giving younger people an opportunity to experience those traditions in a setting shaped by the place where they are growing up.
Somali Culture Night therefore sits alongside RISE’s wider work with young people, families and communities. The format may be different from a weekly programme or advice session, but the underlying purpose is familiar: creating spaces where people can connect, participate and belong.
Backed by partnership
Events of this scale depend on more than enthusiasm. They require partners willing to invest in community-led activity and recognise the importance of cultural spaces.
The 2025 Somali Culture Night was supported by Dahabshiil Group, with the support and leadership of Abdiaziz Arab helping make the event possible. Their involvement demonstrates the role businesses can play when corporate support is connected directly to the communities they serve.
Supported by Dahabshiil
RISE Projects is grateful to Dahabshiil Group for supporting the fourth annual Somali Culture Night and investing in an event that brings culture, community and generations together in Haringey.
Somali Culture Night 2025
Watch highlights from an evening of Somali music, performance, culture and community at RISE Projects’ fourth annual Somali Culture Night.
A celebration rooted in Haringey
We were also pleased to welcome civic representatives including Mayor Ahmed Mahbub, Deputy Mayor Michelle Safo, Cllr Sue Jameson, Cllr Ibrahim Ali and Cllr Mark Blake.
Their presence reflected something important about the evening. Somali Culture Night is a celebration of a particular community, but it is also part of Haringey’s wider cultural life. Events like this allow the borough’s diversity to be experienced through people, performance and shared space rather than simply described in policy documents or statistics.
Culture is not separate from community building. It is one of the ways people recognise themselves, connect with one another and create a sense of belonging.
Building a tradition
Four years into Somali Culture Night, the event has changed in size and ambition, but the principle behind it remains simple: create a space where culture can be celebrated openly and where people feel that the evening belongs to them.
The 2025 celebration showed how far that idea has travelled. Hundreds of people gathered under one roof, performers shared the stage, local businesses participated and families celebrated together.
As RISE continues to develop the event, our aim is not simply to make Somali Culture Night bigger each year. It is to protect what has made it work from the beginning: community ownership, cultural pride and the opportunity to bring people together.
Creating spaces where community and culture can thrive.
RISE brings people together through community groups, cultural events, networks and activities that create opportunities to participate, connect and belong.