A RETIRED school teacher with a lifelong aversion to racism is the driving force behind Stroud's forthcoming One Nation festival.

The event takes place over the weekend of June 20 and 21 and is intended to celebrate ethnic diversity in Gloucestershire. It features 15 music and dance acts, an inter-racial football match, a debate and numerous creative workshops. Will Saunders spoke to the man behind the idea.

Described as a festival of diversity, the One Nation Festival is the first of its kind to be held in Stroud, although organisers are hoping it will become an annual event.

It is the brainchild of Brian Oosthuysen, a 65-year-old former Archway teacher who has seen the ugliness of racial hatred at its most extreme.

"I suppose I wanted to do this because of my background," he said. "Growing up in South Africa I experienced at first-hand the horrors of apartheid. It created in me a lifelong disgust of racism."

Appalled by the growing racial and religious tension in the wake of September 11, Brian, who lives in Kingscourt with his wife Carole, decided that something had to be done to stem the tide of racism.

"The festival has grown as a reaction to this Islam-a-phobia and xenophobia that is developing in this country," he said.

"After September 11 there has been a big rise of the right wing. Instead of sitting there saying 'Oh isn't this terrible' I wanted to do something positive about it.

"There is a whole host of things happening in various venues. We have a disabled group, an Indian group, an African group, an Irish group - but everybody who performs, talks or campaigns is from Gloucestershire."

Although the festival has drawn acts from all over the county, the Stroud area is well represented. Blueberry Pie Jazz Band, a group of Year 10 pupils from Marling School, are performing on Friday, June 20 at the Cotswold Playhouse.

The following afternoon Canon Father Barry Coker, will engage in a friendly theological debate with Muslim cleric Kari Abdullah.

And one of the most eagerly awaited events will take place at the leisure centre, where a team from Stroud will take on a team from the Gloucestershire Association of Refugees and Asylum Seekers (GARAS) in a football match.

Mr Oosthuysen has gathered support for the event from famous names and public figures all over the county.

Acclaimed children's novelist Jamila Gavin, who grew up in India, and performance poet Brenda Read-Brown have lent their support to the project, visiting schools to give workshops on cultural diversity.

Jamila explained the purpose of the workshops. "What I have been doing is getting the children to talk about their own experiences of travelling and other cultures," she said, "helping them to realise that even by walking an inch out of their own front door they are linked to the rest of the world in all sorts of ways.

"It's a way of encouraging children to be inspired by themselves, really." Stroud MP David Drew, a committed Christian, has also thrown his weight behind the festival. On Friday, June 20 he will give a lecture on diversity to the combined Stroud 6th forms, Downfield, at Archway School and he has been heavily involved with the event since its conception.

"Although its true we don't have as much ethnic diversity as in some areas of the country, it's still important to celebrate the different religions, cultures and beliefs we have in this area," Mr Drew said.

" Hopefully this festival can help us develop greater understanding of each others' beliefs."

One Nation: A Festival of Diversity takes place at various Stroud venues on Friday June 20 and Saturday June 21.