About Oxjam Cardiff

 

Welcome to the Oxjam Cardiff Blogjam!

This site will give you an insight into the amazingly wonderful world of Oxjam and how to get involved with the festival in Cardiff.  

Whether you want to organise your own Oxjam event in aid of Oxfam, help out at one, perform at an Oxjam event, or come along to one to see just how amazing they are, by getting involved with Oxjam you can help to make a real difference to people’s lives.  

    

  

So what is Oxjam?

The Oxjam Music Festival takes place every October throughout the UK. All of the events are organised by volunteers and all of the money raised goes towards funding Oxfam‘s work with others to overcome poverty and suffering.  

The festival first took place in October 2006, and has grown ever since, raising over £1million. Oxjam boasts the biggest festival line-up in the UK, including celebrity supporters such as Jarvis Cocker, Fat Boy Slim, Basement Jaxx, VV Brown and many more.  

  

Jarvis Cocker shows his support for Oxjam on the official Oxjam YouTube channel, Oxjam4OxfamGB

   

The beauty of Oxjam is that anyone can get involved, no matter what your musical taste is or how much experience you have in planning events. Anyone can be an Oxjammer! This year in Cardiff, volunteers organised busking sessions, gigs featuring Welsh language artists, chamber concerts, a ‘Battle of the Jams’ competition, second hand fashion shows and record fayres, not to mention an all-day festival event held on Womanby Street which gave birth to a new world record for the longest ever freestyle rap. It’s been amazing! 

Models from the Oxjam Fashion & Music Festival event that took place at Buffalo on 1st Nov 2009. Photo by Sofie Jenkinson.

 

Local musician, Rich Hayes, took part in the Oxjam Cardiff launch party in Buffalo back in October 2008 with his band ‘The Method’ and described it as “an absolutely class night.”  

It always shows when people put the work in to make a success of something, and successful the night most certainly was. The choice of bands was great, the stalls, the dj, the dancing in the extreme heat, the stage invasion, and the Oxjam volunteers jamming with us at the end of our set was the lickle cherry on top of the cake that we would all love to come and take a big bite out of again. If all gigs were organised as well as this one the world would be a much more interesting place indeed. What makes it more special is that through having such a good time, we raised much needed cash for Oxfam. If I had to describe Oxjam, it would be that…  

O= is for “Oh my god what a class night!”
X= is for Xeraphin, if we raised money for someone in Goa
J= is for Jamming (Oxjammers dancing on the stage and playing my keyboard!)
A= is for Again, Again, Again, Another Oxjam
M= is for the sweet sweet Music that filled my ears and brain in Buffalo”  

   

Anyway, if mine and Rich’s over enthusiastic ramblings haven’t convinced you to go ahead and organise an Oxjam event right this second! Then please take a look at some of the stories, reviews, information and inspiring Oxfam and Oxjam video footage, and see how you can get involved in this fantastic festival.  

    

Happy Oxjamming!  

   

* This site is not an official Oxfam GB site. Oxjam is a national festival of independent events led and run by volunteers in aid of Oxfam. This site has been developed by Oxjam Cardiff volunteers. Please visit www.oxfam.org.uk for more info on Oxfam GB’s work and www.oxfam.org.uk/oxjam for information on the UK-wide Oxjam Music Festival.