Essential information
| Type |
Events and festivals
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|---|---|
| Location | |
| Date and times | Saturday 20 June 2026 | 11am-4pm |
| Prices | Free |
Come to the National Maritime Museum this June to celebrate Windrush Day: Beyond the Ship (1945–1970s).
HMT Empire Windrush arrived in Britain on 22 June 1948. On board were more than 800 passengers from the Caribbean. While the Empire Windrush is rightly and widely remembered, it was only one of many ships and journeys that brought people to Britain during this period. Many travellers from across the then Empire believed Britain was the 'motherland' and a place of opportunity, and they made long journeys across the sea to begin new lives.
On this day, you will see how every person who made that journey from the Caribbean and beyond is a pioneer. They crossed oceans, faced uncertainty, and helped shape not only modern Britain, but also the futures of their families and the course of race relations around ethnicity in this country.
Each year the National Maritime Museum partners with local communities to celebrate Caribbean culture and the legacy of the Windrush generation in the UK today.
See the programme below and keep an eye on this page as more details are added.
Event timetable
Scroll down to learn more about each activity.
| Time | Activity | Site | Location |
| 10am-5pm | Windrush Food Culture exhibition | National Maritime Museum | National Windrush Museum gallery |
| 11am-5pm | Community photography display: The Journeys That Made Us | Queen's House | Orangery |
| 11am-3pm | Tracing your ancestors: Caribbean Family History Workshop | National Maritime Museum | Caird Library |
| 11am-3pm | Film screenings and Q&A - more details to be announced | National Maritime Museum | Lecture Theatre |
| 11am-3pm | 'My Identity Passport' craft activity | National Maritime Museum | Ocean Map |
| 11am-3pm | 'Caribbean cloth printing inspired by Althea McNish' craft activity | National Maritime Museum | Learning Space |
| 11am-3pm | Games Without Wires and dominoes | National Maritime Museum | Figurehead Space |
| 11am-3pm | Interactive Activity: Airmail, Dear Family... | National Maritime Museum | ReThink Space |
| 11.30am, 1.15pm, 2.15pm | Character Actor: Pearl Morris | National Maritime Museum | Voyagers gallery |
| 11.30am- 12.30pm | Panel discussion: Beyond a Ship: The Journey | Queen's House | Great Hall |
| 1pm-2pm | Panel discussion: Beyond a Ship: Our Pioneers, Building a New Legacy | Queen's House | Great Hall |
Full programme
Displays, characters and exhibitions
The Journeys That Made Us display
11am- 3pm | Orangery of the Queen's House
History is often written by the vessels that carried us, but the true story belongs to the people on board, and the generations that followed.
This display celebrates those journeys and the deeper, personal journeys of those from the Windrush generation. Shared by our local community, these photographs capture lives, families, and cultures built. Hear their history on their own terms.
Pearl Morris
Voyagers Gallery of the National Maritime Museum
Meet Pearl Morris, a Caribbean woman who travelled to Britain in 1948 on the Empire Windrush, a passenger liner that brought one of the first large groups of post-war West Indians to the United Kingdom. A matron of the Windrush Generation, Pearl will tell you what life was like for a Caribbean woman in Britain in the 50s, and how she made this island her home.
Windrush Food Culture
Gallery open 10am-5pm on the day | National Windrush Museum Gallery
Explore how the Windrush Generation brought not only their flavours, but their memory, resilience, creativity, and techniques to post-war Britain.
Craft activities and workshops
Tracing your ancestors: Caribbean Family History Workshop
Caird Library at the National Maritime Museum | 11am-3pm
Join renowned genealogist Carlston Walters in the Caird Library and Archive, where you can begin your search for your family history. Using the passenger lists digitised on Ancestry, and various records from parish churches in the Caribbean, searching for Crew lists and Merchant Navy records, staff will also provide suggestions to find family history records in archives across the UK. Especially for this event, maps, prints, drawings and rare books from the collection will be on display.
Games without wires and dominoes
11am-3pm | Figurehead Space of the National Maritime Museum
Try out a variety of board games, big and small, with the Caribbean Social Forum.
My Identity Passport
11am-3pm | National Maritime Museum Ocean Map
This creative, family-friendly workshop will explore identity, belonging, and self-expression in celebration of Windrush Day. Inspired by the journeys and lived experiences of the Windrush generation. It reimagines the passport as a personal story - reflecting who we are, what we value, and what we hope for.
Caribbean cloth printing inspired by Althea McNish
11am-3pm | National Maritime Museum Learning Space
In this fun printing workshop, get inspired by the pattern making of the Trinidadian artist Althea McNish, and the vibrant tablecloths found in every Windrush home. Using a number of different foam prints and bursting colours, create your own exciting patterns.
Interactive Activity: Airmail, Dear Family...
11am-3pm | ReThink Space Wall
Reflect on the day and write a letter to a loved one. Inspired by the letters and writings of the Windrush Generation via Airmail, tell us what you think of the day, appreciate the Windrush generation or imagine you were someone from the past writing a letter to your family.
Film screenings and panel discussions
More details of film screenings TBC.
Beyond a Ship: The Journey
The Queen's House Great Hall | 11.30am-12.30pm
Join this panel discussion to hear about personal journeys across the ocean from Trinidad, Grenada and Mauritius to Britain in the 1960s. Speakers include Bobby Bolakee (Mauritius), Theresa Pearl Moncrieffe (Grenada), Jeanette Decouteux (Trinidad), and Dexter Khan (Trinidad).
Beyond a Ship: Our Pioneers, Building a New Legacy
The Queen's House Great Hall | 1-2pm
Join this panel discussion to hear about the experiences of building a life in Britain. Learn about this pioneering community and culture, as well as the challenges and realities of settling in a new country. Speakers include Vijay Doobejah (Mauritius) and Paul Bolakee (Mauritius).
Keep up to date
Be the first to find out about events, exhibitions and activities at the National Maritime Museum.
Windrush stories and resources
What is Windrush Day?
On 22 June 1948, Caribbean migrants arrived in the UK on the Empire Windrush at Tilbury Docks in Essex, their first stop before travelling towards London.
Many people from British Commonwealth countries travelled to the UK between 1948 and 1971, encouraged by the 1948 British Nationality Act that granted citizenship and right of abode to all members of the British Empire.
On arrival in the UK however, people were often met with racism, lack of acknowledgement of their professional skills and very different living conditions.
Windrush Day is a chance to celebrate British Caribbean communities, and acknowledge the sacrifices and contributions the Windrush generation and their descendants have made to British society.
The Windrush arrival marked a turning point, when Caribbeans came here to help re-build Britain, to work in the transport system, factories and the newly created NHS. So for those who had to overcome so much adversity, it has great significance”
Baroness Floella Benjamin
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