This coming Saturday, 6 July, the Maindee Festival will take place in Newport. It is a major event and a highlight of the summer and cultural life in my constituency. The festival association was founded in 1997 and it has organised and raised funds for annual events ever since. It begins with a spectacular parade in which everyone gets dressed up and joins the giant figures, bands of musicians and dancers, ending at the venue in the primary school grounds.

Maindee is an ethnically diverse community, constantly changing and evolving but coming together around a day to celebrate difference and common humanity with art, music and dance, food and drink. In these times of worrying division all over the world and close to home, opportunities to embrace unity in our communities, break down barriers and aid social cohesion are crucial. This year's theme of 'Making Maindee', which aims to recognise everything that makes our neighbourhood so vibrant and rich, could not be more appropriate.

I pay tribute to the charity and its hard working and talented committee and volunteers who give so much time and energy to make the day a success, engaging people across cultures. And, of course, I pay tribute to our wonderfully diverse community, who take part and go along in ever greater numbers year on year.