#LAF24 NEIGHBOURHOOD
01 – 30 June 2024
Liverpool Architecture Festival is back, and the June 2024 edition will be bigger and better than ever.
Building on the successes of the 2021 and 2022 Festivals, #LAF24 intends to deliver a full calendar of free, interactive events and exhibitions throughout the Liverpool City Region in Halton, Knowsley St. Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and Liverpool.
The theme ‘Neighbourhood’ intends to help people connect with their local architectural environment.
Material Matters presents Into the Wyld: a festival of contemporary art at the Williamson Art Gallery & Museum exploring the continuing legacy of the medieval poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and its unique connection to the Wirral.
Preview night: Thursday 1 August, 6-8pm.
From 1 August to 21 December 2024 the Material Matters Collective will be in residency at the Williamson in Birkenhead. Into the Wyld also features work from over 20 invited artists across the region, plus an associated five month programme of performance art, poetry readings, children’s workshops, film screenings and a symposium.
Material Matters’ artists will respond to key themes in the Gawain poem across three exhibitions: ‘Nature’ curated by Patric Rogers from 1st Aug – 13th Sep, ‘Chivalry’ curated by John Elcock from 19th Sep – 25th Oct and ‘Spirituality’ curated by Angelo Madonna from 7th Nov – 21st Dec. ‘Weavers’ a parallel programme of performance, talks, workshops and readings will be curated by Silvia Battista.
Gawain is a masterpiece text of the Middle Ages. The poem tells the story of King Arthur’s headstrong young nephew who after a dramatic bargain with a mysterious figure faces a long journey in which he must, quite literally, keep his head. Sir Gawain’s quest ‘into the wilderness of the Wirral’ is a fourteenth century narrative that will be given a radical 21st century interpretation by the artists.
Featured artists for Into the Wyld include: Angelo Madonna – Silvia Battista – John Elcock and Patric Rogers in collaboration with Amodali – Nick Ball – Abbie Bradshaw – Alice Colquhoun – Kris Darby – Will Dickie – Ryan Gauge – Anna Jane Houghton – Adrian Jeans – Oak Luca – Brendan Lyons – Izzie Major – Piotr Marchewka – Paul Mellor – Margaret O’Brien – Attila Olah – Nicky Perrin – Eleanor Rees – Sarah Jane Richards – Andrew Shaw – Craig Sinclair – Camille Smithwick – Pierce Starre – Angela Stringer – Serah Stringer – Catherine Swire and Niamh Tam.
Professor Sarah Peverley (Liverpool University) will open the programme on the 3 August with a talk on the poem’s history and textual brilliance and the real and imaginary landscapes that Sir Gawain passes through. Each exhibition will offer a family workshop led respectively by artists Madeleine Smart and Alexandra Hales. Associate Professor Catherine Morris (Liverpool Hope University) will moderate artists’ conversations with the public at the end of each exhibition.
The symposium Spirits of Place at the Williamson on 12 October will be led by writer John Reppion and features presentations around the themes of the tale by leading scholars and writers from across the UK including Associate Professor Silvia Battista, Dee Dee Chainey, Maria J. Pérez Cuervo, Professor Stephen E. Harding, Professor Carolyne Larrington, Mark Penman and Adam Scovell.
Material Matters is an artists’ collective and co-operative engaged in artistic and curatorial practices that explore the inter-relationship between materiality, aesthetics and performativity under a collaborative praxis the artists call ’emotional minimalism’.
Some events are ticketed, please check websites and social media for details.
Into the Wyld is supported by Wirral Borough of Culture 2024 and Liverpool Hope University.
The European Poetry Festival returns this summer with a dozen free events, as poets from nations across our continent, and across the UK, come together for one of the grandest celebrations of European poetry ever to take place in Britain.
Celebrating collaboration, literary liveness and cross-linguistic inventiveness, our events at National Poetry Library, National Centre for Writing, Rich Mix, Kingston University Town House and more, are renowned for their energy, community and dynamic performative originality. This year the festival will be visited by poets from Catalonia, Flanders, Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, Latvia, Norway and many other nationalities, and the festival will once again be entirely collaborative, with new works presented as premieres, made, for the events, by visiting poets and their UK-based counterparts.
Come along to the first event in the Liverpool Poetry Space programme for 2024, an evening of live poetry including some of the most exciting poets from Norway, Czech Republic and North West England. The European Poetry Festival brings its unique collaborative, performative, playful literary stylings to Liverpool. This event will see pairs of poets present brand new works of live literature, made for the night, and drawing upon the local Liverpudlian poetry scene as well as visiting poets from across Europe. Featuring
Tim Postovit and Sarah Dawson
Ane Thon Knutsen and Angie Butler
Vilde Bjerke Torset and Michael Sutton
Steven J. Fowler and Tom Jenks
Thor Magnus Tangerås and Stephen Sunderland
Julia Rose Lewis and Sarah-Clare Conlon
Ondřej Macl and poet to be announced
An event in partnership with Liverpool Poetry Space. Event curated by SJ Fowler and Chris McCabe.
Liverpool Arab Arts Festival (LAAF) – the longest running festival of Arab arts and culture in the UK – returns for its 22nd year this July.
LAAF exists to support and champion creatives from across the Arab region and its diaspora, in the belief that art and creativity have the power to express a shared humanity.
The festival will celebrate Liverpool’s unique identity; a city, with a global community and brimming with artistry, that looks outwards across the world. Highlighting the importance of this shared humanity, Port Cities, a brand-new visual arts project in partnership with British Council – MENA, will premiere newly commissioned artwork by four internationally renowned Arab artists exploring the social, historical and cultural links between Liverpool and the Arab region.
With more festival events to be announced soon…
Port Cities exhibition
Friday 12 July – Saturday 20 July / 12pm – 4pm
Exhibition launch event: Friday 12 July / 1-4pm
Space Liverpool, 41 Stanhope Street, Liverpool, L8 5RE
FREE / NO TICKETS REQUIRED
Yalla Neحky – Hadi Badi Books workshop for children 4-8 years old
Saturday 13 July / 12pm – 1:30pm
Liverpool Central Library, William Brown Street, Liverpool, L3 8EW
FREE / BOOKING REQUIRED
Comedy Workshop with Maria Shehata
Saturday 13 July / 1-2:30pm
Liverpool Central Library, William Brown Street, Liverpool, L3 8EW
£6 / TICKETS
Arabs Are Not Funny
Saturday 13 July / 7:30pm
Unity Theatre, 1 Hope Place, Liverpool, L1 9BG
£15.00 / TICKETS
Arab Film Night: At The Library X LAAF
Sunday 14 July / 4 – 7pm
Plaza Community Cinema, 13 Crosby Road North, Waterloo, Liverpool, L22 0LD
£5 / TICKETS (Free for L20, L21, L22 postcodes)
Port Cities Symposium
Monday 15 July / 10am – 4pm
Bluecoat, School Lane, Liverpool, L1 3BX
£10.00 / PAY WHAT YOU CAN / TICKETS
Fundraising Screening: At Home in Gaza and London
Monday 15 July / 6-8pm
Bluecoat, School Lane, Liverpool, L1 3BX
£10 / TICKETS
Janette Ayachi: Exploring Heritage Through Poetry
Wednesday 17 July / 6pm – 7pm
Bluecoat, School Lane, Liverpool, L1 3BX
£8/£6 / TICKETS
Chambers of the Heart: Hassan Abdulrazzak, Laila Alj & Sepy Baghaei
Friday 19 July and Saturday 20 July / 7:30pm
Unity Theatre, 1 Hope Place, Liverpool, L1 9BG
£15.00 / TICKETS
The Ayoub Sisters
Saturday 20 July / 8pm
Music Room, Liverpool Philharmonic, Hope Street, Liverpool, L1 9BP
£15.00 / TICKETS
Family Day
Sunday 21 July / 12pm – 5pm
Sefton Park Palm House, Sefton Park, Liverpool, L17 1AP
FREE / NO TICKETS REQUIRED
The Mosh Tots Festival is back!
After the rip-roaring success of last year’s summer party they can’t wait to welcome you back and do it all over again this year – with even more grand plans to turn up the fun for the whole family.
The Mosh Tots Band have invited along a super-exciting line-up of musical guests to join them at the festival, including The Fun Time Boys and Beija Flo!
Head along and start building some magical memories and a love for live music that will last a lifetime.
Wax + Gears is back on Bank Holiday Monday 27.05, and they’re delighted to share a stacked programme of activities, artists, and traders who are set to join Future Yard on the day…
Hosted by the inimitable Auntie Climax, they’ll have live music via their pedal-powered stage from Campfire Social, Pink Footage, Frank Cheese, and Gas Kunst, with Dance For Plants DJs set to provide the vibes throughout.
They’ll also be joined by Again who are running a clothes swap for you to donate some of your unused pieces and pick out something new for your wardrobe, in addition to Cool Wirral Climate Cafe + Extinction Rebellion who will be spreading the word on their work in sustainable practice and climate activism.
Warrington Music Festival is back and this year it’s even bigger with two stages in prime position in the town centre.
The free, ticketless, open-air event will take place at Golden Square’s Old Market Place on Saturday, 25 May, shining a spotlight on new and emerging indie rock talent from across the region.
But new for 2024 is a second stage at Time Square which will showcase a more diverse range of artists and music genres, aimed at bringing a wider audience to the popular annual event.
Kicking off at midday, there will be live music throughout the day culminating in a headline performance by The Ambersons.
Warrington Music Festival was founded in 2007 and is organised by Steve Oates, from music development company Score Creative, and Christian Persoglio, from Culture Warrington, together with Golden Square shopping centre.
Full line-up coming soon.
*This event is free, no need to book, just head along on the day.
Smithdown Weekender returns this May Bank Holiday Weekend 2024 for another unforgettable 4 days of live music, arts and DJ’s.
From Friday 3rd May to Monday 6th May, the weekend remains completely free – giving local and upcoming acts the opportunity to perform to full crowds, alongside some great local established acts.
A range of styles and acts will perform in venues stretching from Penny Lane to Gainsborough Road, with main stages for bands located in the Handyman Bar and Brewery.
A reunion with Tramp Attack and Strange Collective will throwback to the original Smithdown Festival, along with more recent favourites including Mamadou and the Lekette, and the Liverpool Indie Choir complimenting debutants such as Me and Deboe.
Smithdown Weekender is proud to support Whitechapel Centre through fundraising efforts. Please donate to the Whitechapel Centre if you can.
Sound City music festival returns with headliners Caity Baser and The Snuts, and loads of other notable acts including Michael Head and The Red Elastic Band, Bleach Lab, Brooke Combe, The Dream-Machine, King No-One and many more.
A new-look and industry-leading conference programme is also worth getting excited about. Sound City Forum is a fresh new voice in the music industry landscape bringing together those working across the music industry, artists, entrepreneurs and aspiring creatives amongst others to delve into the pressing questions that face the industry today.
Across two days (2 & 3 May 2024) Sound City Forum gathers together in one place an exciting array of programming including award ceremonies (taking place in Liverpool for the very first time), panel discussions, keynote conversations, interactive networking opportunities and much more – ensuring on that weekend that the most vital conversations in music are going on in Liverpool. This includes:
Day, weekend and conference tickets are available now.
A Lovely Poetry Festival will be making its return this summer in Liverpool after a year’s hiatus.
This years’ theme is ‘A Lovely City’, and what better way to honour that than crowning Queer Bodies as their Artists in Residence. This gorgeous, queer, Northern poetry cohort have facilitated poetry workshops and residencies across the city and beyond, helping countless local artists to compile their own lovely words.
Join them on Sunday 30 June for the launch of A Lovely Poetry Festival
Where: Rope Walks Square, Bold Street
When: 3.30pm
On Sunday 30 June there will be a poetry themed bike ride leaving from the Everyman (time tbc) travelling around our lovely city. There will be stops on the way where some of their cycling poets will share a poem or two. The ride will finish at Ropewalks Square, off Bold Street where there will be a pop up stage with tons of fabulous poets lined up to entertain you with their words.
During the party they will be launching their ‘A Lovely Poetry Festival’ zine in conjunction with News from Nowhere bookshop. The Zine includes poems written by over 20 local poets. To celebrate the start of their Lovely Poetry Festival they will be giving out free drinks and cakes to all who come to take part.
Saturday 6th July
Cost: £9
Time: 7:30PM DOORS – LATE
Location: Quarry, Liverpool
Join this year’s Artists in Residence, Queer Bodies Poetry Collective, for an exciting evening of rap, spoken word, poetry, music and dancing at Quarry!Featuring notable LGBTQ+ locals & Queer Bodies Graduates, this exciting lineup includes; Alina Burwitz, Felix Mufti, Jay Farley, Peter Scalpello & Jared Vallejo.
As well as this interstellar lineup, they are also very proud to feature their HEADLINERS in what will be the first ever performance of a brand new commissioned sound piece by local Trans royalty collaborators – Live Artist and Writer, Mandy Romero, and Beat Machine/ Sound Artist extraordinaire, Maeve Devine.
Hosted by Auntie Climax & Day Mattar with de-lightful sets from superstar dj’s Dan Chan & MYOHMY to finish off the night – what more could you want?
About Artists in Residence:
Queer Bodies are a poetry collective, run by Day Mattar and Brendan Curtis, who offer writing residencies to members of the LGBTQI+ community based in the North West. They are based in Liverpool, running for 3 years. In this time, they have run two digital writing residencies; Queer Bodies (2020) and Queer Icons (2021), supported by ACE, Homotopia, Metal, WoWFEST and DaDaFest.
Access: They are working on making this event as accessible as possible. The entrance to this venue is wheelchair accessible and Quarry has a disabled toilet. There is a smoking/garden area out back which has step access only. If you have any specific access concerns, please do get in touch with alovelywordbecky@gmail.com
Pop up Poetry Performances
Liverpool has a long and proud history of poetry. A Lovely Poetry Festival wants to celebrate this so they have searched high and low and found a wealth of talented poets from across Merseyside. These poets will be taking part in Pop Up performances around the city.So join their Tour of Liverpool and hear some amazing poets as they take to the streets to share their poetry with the people of Liverpool. Poets will be joining their Poetry bike to take to the stage as it stops for a break!
You can catch the performances on…
Sunday 30th June
1.30pm: The Everyman Theatre
2 – 3pm: Liverpool One (Chevase Park steps on the corner of John Lewis)
3.30 – 4.30 pm: Ropewalks Square, off Bold Street
Saturday 6th July
12 – 1pm: Pier Head, Liverpool
1.30 – 2.30pm: Outside Lush, Church Street
So if you fancy listening to some great poetry whilst traveling around the city make sure you stop by to listen and say Hello!
Want to be a part of A Junior Lovely Word?
Saturday 6th July from 3.30pm at LUSH, Liverpool ONE.
They are looking for young poets between the ages of 7 – 12
They have the amazing poet Dommy B to share his hilarious and brilliant poetry written especially for children. Young poets will also take to the mic to share their own poems with the audience. Everyone who signs up to perform a poem will receive a free goodie bag.
Lush have also organised Bath Bomb making workshops during the afternoon that you can sign up for (timings and details of this to follow).
Be part of the audience. You don’t have to read a poem – just come along to hear some great poetry!
In order to take part please ask a parent, carer or guardian to email
Emma: unusualartsourcingcompany@gmail.com
Please let them know your name and age and give us an idea of how long your poem/poems might be (max 4 minute slot)
All children need to attend with an adult.
Sunday 7 July, 12 – 6pm at The Royal Standard
Relaxed Poetry Factory, Pop up performance & panel day. Join them for a pay what you can factory event and get creative, meet with experienced poet practitioners and get feedback on your work, be playful, create something new or come along for the social element to hear some lovely poetry!
The Wordsmiths
Amina Atiq & Helen Jeffrey & 1-1 editing workshops with Artists in Residence, Queer Bodies
Performances and screenings
George & Sharon Melling, Bhumika Billa: Poetry Film Screenings, First Take Queer Insight Poetry Films Screening, Blue Saint, Amina Atiq, TReasured (Mandy Romero), Claire Beerjeraz
Poetry Panel
Poetry Panel Discussion: Hosted by Queer Bodies with Blue Saint, Amina Atiq and Mandy Romero.
Visit the A Lovely Poetry Festival website for full festival details.