Exeter Respect Festival, which has been held in the Devon region of England for 25 years, promoting coexistence against racism, was held this year with the slogan: "We are all different, we are all equal."

The festival, attended by thousands of people for two days, introduced the music, dance and local dishes of ethnic groups.

A workshop on Kurdish govend (halay) was held at the festival, where the Kurdish Community Center was also invited. The Govend Group also organised a workshop.

Along with Kurds, hundreds of people danced together accompanied by Kurdish songs.

Govend is resistance

Speaking about Govend, Dr. Mithat Ishak talked about the current situation in Kurdistan and reminded that Kurds are divided into four parts between states.

Stating that the govend is not just a dance from the lands of Kurdistan, İshak said: "Today, the identity, language and culture of the Kurds in Kurdistan are faced with oppression and prohibitions. Here we can perform govend. However, the Kurds are using govend as a form of resistance against this oppression and violence."