#SOASCALAIS
This is the information page for
SOAS Goes To
Calais
SOAS Goes to Calais is an unofficial project organised
for the last 15 years out of the
We do this by organising regular solidarity trips to the Calais region
and other parts of Europe, in which we volunteer with local organisations,
carry out frontline support work with refugees and migrants in camps and
elsewhere, and put on occasional musical events. The core team consists of
members of the SOAS Ceilidh Band. In recent
years, we have also organised trips to Paris, Athens,
Berlin, Istanbul and Lebanon.
We are travelling
to
Our main activities will be
an evening ceilidh event on Saturday 20 June 2026 – A
Ceilidh for Calais – at the Maison
d’Entraide et des Ressources [MER], which is a community centre that
provides services and well-being facilities for refugees and migrants in
Calais. This will be a solidarity event, because the centre is threatened with
closure.
See this video for the
activities of the MER:
On Sunday 21 June there will
also be an evening trad music session at a local bar,
Le Chat Bleu.
The principal
activity of our trips is the organisation of musical encounters (including the
bringing of musical instruments into the camps, informal concerts in the
jungles, and a ceilidh dance in the evening). Our
activities also include music-making with local musicians. And some of our
people volunteer with the humanitarian aid agencies (food kitchens etc).
Accommodation for the
trip is in shared B&B accommodation, and team members arrange their own
travel. Transport is generally by bus and cross-Channel ferry (return fare
between £60 and £100). All team members travel at their own expense and at
their own risk, since this is not an official SOAS activity.
In London, we organise public meetings and talks to raise awareness of
the issue, and hold fundraising parties and concerts, open to SOAS students,
SOAS staff, and the general public. Through our work runs the belief that this
is a political issue as well as a humanitarian one.
Our ultimate aim is to open
the borders across and beyond Europe, and to see migrants and refugees received
with dignity and respect, whoever they are and wherever they go.
Whether you are a musician,
singer, dancer or volunteer, you are invited to join us.
For further details of the
trip, write to:
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Video links related to our
earlier solidarity activities in Calais:
Syrian musicians in Calais -
November 2014
SOAS solidarity tour -
October 2013
SOAS Arabic Band solidarity
tour - May 2015
Mapping the homeland: Syrian
refugees - 2015
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Last updated: 27.iv.2026
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