CELEBRATIONS for Black History Month are taking place in Huddersfield throughout October.

Different organisations will be staging events to celebrate the history of black culture in Britain.

The University of Huddersfield is holding an arts festival celebrating black culture from October 13 to 15.

The festival will include African dance and features the group Simba Arts whose members have worked as musicians and choreographers with Hollywood stars Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman, and top musician Afrika Bambaataa.

There will be workshops, run by Rhian Kempdoo, for carnival costume making.

Lecturer Peter Davies will be running a workshop about the role played by black and Asian cricketers in Kirklees.

There will also be poetry, prose and music workshops with writers Rommi Smith and Gaia Holmes.

More music will be performed by French hip hop group La Cedille, from Huddersfield's twin town Besancon.

The band - who have just come off a tour with De La Soul - are being brought to the event by Huddersfield record company Chocolate Fireguard and community record label the Timeless Music Project.

There will also be music workshops from the Mastersingers with James Morgan and Ritchie Pitts.

Entry to the events costs £2.50 for over 16s and is free for younger children.

The next celebrations will be at Huddersfield Town Hall on October 22 with a show entitled Word Temple 2006.

The show, produced by Creative Origins, features leading performers from Britain's spoken word scene.

It mixes hip hop, poetry and reggae with live music and drama to highlight issues which affect inner city African-Caribbean communities.

The show, directed by Amani Naphtali, will move to Warwick, Bristol, Manchester, Birmingham and Wolverhampton before closing its tour at The Albany in London in November.

Tickets cost £7, or £5 for concessions, and can be bought from Huddersfield Tourist Information Centre on 01484 223200.

Finally, on October 26, Black History Month celebrations will be held at the Chestnut Centre in Deighton.

Staged by community organisation Fresh Horizons, the celebration will start at 11am and finish at 4pm.

It will include rap and DJ workshops, nail art, back and head massage, a computer fair, hairdressing workshops, henna tattooing, aura readings, hair braiding, face painting, raffles and information from Kirklees Community History Service.

There will also be Stars In Their Eyes-style talent show auditions.

For more information, contact 01484 234234.