Oldham's Bangladeshi community enjoyed traditional music of a different kind as Scottish bagpipes entertained crowds in Westwood.

The Oldham Scottish Pipe Band dressed in kilts played traditional Scottish music in front of the Shahid Minar - a monument which celebrates Bangladesh's language movement.

Young children, women and men coming out from the mosque enjoyed a bit of Scottish culture as the sounds of the Highlands bellowed throughout Westwood during the bank holiday weekend.

The town's Pakistani community also enjoyed the Scottish sounds as the band performed at the Pakistani community centre in Glodwick.

The event was part of Oldham's Diversity festival where organisers are helping to break down cultural barriers by featuring a number of events in every part of the borough.

The idea is to use music food, art and theatre to bring people together but the difference with The Diversity festival is that organisers will transport different cultures to parts of the borough where people would not expect to see it.

The festival is being organised by the Sonali network, a community group made up of volunteers from Oldham.

Organisers of the festival also held an Asian fashion show at Saddleworth Museum where white women adored all the latest craze in the Asian high streets.

The clothes were provided by Millon Collections and models had to do strut down the catwalk twice because of the demand by the mixed audience.

Many women were keen to find out about saris and trousers suits which were a mixture of east and west.

One member of the audience Sylvia Hammond said it was the first time she had seen an Asian fashion show.

She added: "The clothes were so elegant, I wouldn't mind trying some one for myself."

Other events that have been organised include a women's multicultural food tasting event where white, Asian, Afro-Caribbean women tasted food from different parts of the world.

A children's dance exchange was held at the ARC community centre in Abbeyhills with children from different back grounds showing their dance skills and making new friends. The Indian Association Dance Group, the Urban Street Dancers from the Arc and the Intense Dancers from the Afro-Caribbean Project have agreed to meet up teach each other their own style of dance and want to put on a joint performance later in the year.

Organiser Muzahid Khan from Sonali Network, said, "Oldham has a mixture of rich cultures and our idea was to celebrate each culture through music, food, drama and literature.

"The events for diversity week have started well with all events being successful and well received. The comments have been very encouraging.

"The fashion and food event in Saddleworth was a slow starter however it was well attended and the children's dance exchange was fantastic and it was encouraging to see children showing their dance skills and making new friends.

"Scottish bag pipes performances had the whole community wondering what was going on but as they came out to watch they were keen to hear more.

"We hope Diversity week will act as a springboard for ideas for more projects which celebrate Oldham's diverse communities throughout the year.

"The events have shown that dispite all the past troubles in Oldham, Oldhamers from all the communities are keen to learn more about each other and enjoy each other's cultures."

Zo Smith, community development officer for Oldham Community Cohesion Agency who have helped Sonali Network organise the festival said, "The response we have had from the people of Oldham to the idea of Diversity Week has been fantastic. All the events so far have been well attended and a lot of people have put in a great deal of effort to help make them a success. I have had many people come to me to say what a great idea it is, and that it is good to have a chance to do something different and mix with people they don't normally meet.

"The different activities have helped open people's eye's to aspects of different people's cultures that they might not have had the chance to experience before, and in this way has been an opportunity for a lot of learning and also a lot of fun.

"This year the idea of a Diversity festival has been successfully launched. We are now looking for individuals and groups to come to us with more ideas for how to make it bigger and better for next year!"