Touching tribute on Morecambe beach will mark 20 years since cockling tragedy

A touching tribute to the 23 cocklers who lost their lives after being trapped by incoming tides in the bay is being hosted by charity More Music on West End Beach, on Sunday February 4 from 4.30-6pm.

The event will include music, warm drinks, braziers, lanterns on which people can write messages and thoughts, and finally the lighting of a fire in the shape of a boat.

The following words by Lemn Sissay – the official poet of the 2012 London Olympics – will also be written on the wall behind the beach.

There’s a time of day you can talk to a wave when you live by the side of the sea

You can hear its words in the whispering spray when you live by the side of the sea

The tales it tells of the storms and swells, things you hear but never can tell

When you live by the side of the sea

The beach event will be followed with music and food at More Music in Devonshire Road, featuring the Long Walk Chinese Ensemble, and internationally renowned flautist and cook Guo Yue.

The ensemble will perform a selection of six songs from the Long Walk, a piece created in 2006 in Morecambe as a musical and theatrical response to the tragedy.

It was originally conceived by Pete Moser and Lemn Sissay with words and music developed by the community over many months, and the project was then repeated in Liverpool, Gateshead and Hong Kong.

The deaths of the 23 Chinese people on February 5, 2004, highlighted the desperate plight of exploited migrant workers who often travel thousands of miles in the search for a better life.

It also confirmed the danger of Morecambe Bay and its shifting sands.

The Morecambe Bay cockling tragedy led to the government giving its backing to the Gangmasters Act, aimed at stamping out "cruel and evil" gangmasters.

A More Music spokesperson said: “At this event we will think about their [the victims’] lives and commit to making the world a safer, better place for all.

“Please join More Music to send your wishes and thoughts out on the tide and in the wind.”