Delia Smith to reflect on happiness at Catholic youth festival

Cookery writer Delia Smith and the parents of murdered London teenager Jimmy Mizen are amongst those due to take part in ‘Brightlights’, London’s annual Catholic festival of faith for young people.

Running from Friday 10 to 12 July, the 15th Brightlights annual young adults festival will take place in Hendon, north London.

Speakers, seminars, worship bands, Catholic drama companies will centre their contributions on this year’s theme, ‘Happy Are You’.

'Happy are you’ is taken from the Beatitudes (Matthew 5), and also from St Paul, “I want you to be happy” (Phil 4:4), and calls festivalgoers to reflect on whether they are happy, why there is so much unhappiness in the world, where they look for their happiness and fulfilment, and how they can help others to a happier, more blessed, life.

Delia will help to explore the relevance of the words ‘Happy Are You’ to life today. As well as her many cookery books, Delia is the author of a number of spiritual books - ‘Feast for Lent’ and ‘Feast for Advent’, readings and reflections for these seasons, and a book on prayer - ‘Journey into God’. She will speak about her faith journey.

Travelling all the way from Kenya will be two revolutionary young people, Kepha Ngito and Alice Ahenda. Growing up in the two largest slums in Kenya, Kepha and Alice know at first hand the challenges faced by more than one million people living in makeshift housing in cramped conditions without access to basic social and economic amenities.

Each in their own way have found real and practical ways to change their circumstances and empower other young people to do the same. Their inspirational story will propel people attending ‘Brightlights’ to take charge of the situations they face and make steps to change them.

Presenting their story and experience, Margaret and Barry Mizen, parents of Londoner Jimmy Mizen who was killed last year in south east London, will help explore how we can find peaceful responses to unforeseen circumstances.

Brightlights brings together young people from across London, Hertfordshire and the South East of England. This year festivalgoers will also be joined by young adults from France on a cultural exchange, with the brothers from Taize who are dedicated to ecumenicalism and peace.

Also taking part will be Tobias Jones, author of Utopian Dreams, as well as the Missionaries of Charity, Young Catholic Workers, Pax Christi and other leading organisations in the Catholic Church.