The Kitchen Carnival 2025 celebrates the Trinidadian ‘Ole Mas’ character of the Burrokeet. We held Zoom workshops with international Carnival artist Clary Salandy on Wednesday afternoons from 2.30-3.30pm, starting on Wednesday 16 July and ending on Wednesday 13 August. See below for videos and instructions from the workshops. We also explored the theme in our Pop-Up Poetry Club on Wednesday mornings — click here to read our poems. We have also made costumes at the Make and Natter sessions of our Art Club on Tuesday mornings.

Click here for step-by step instructions about how to make the donkey head.
Click here for information about how to film your Burrokeet performance.

Burrokeets and English Disability History

The Burrokeet costume includes a fancy hat and matching dress or donkey cover. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, English people rode donkeys up the Malvern Hills to St Ann’s Well and other springs and holy wells. People hoped to be cured of illness by drinking the water, often as part of a regime that involved dieting and bathing. Compare this historical picture with the Trinidad performer above. You can read more about it here and find a book here. We don’t know enough about the history of the Burrokeet costume to be sure, but it may have been inspired by similar scenes in South America.

Naughty Donkeys!

In England’s New Forest, around 200 donkeys roam freely, cared for by residents known as ‘commoners’. You can find out more about them here. In summer 2025, the donkeys made the news when the local Council introduced a new refuse collection system and the donkeys started raiding the dustbins — you can watch a news report about that here. When you are making your burrokeet costume, think about what kind of personality your donkey has. Is it naughty? Well-behaved? How does your donkey’s personality affect the way you move with it?