Event type: Festival

BlackFest 2022

BlackFest returns from 24 September – 29 October. The organisation will be celebrating 5 years of the festival as well as becoming an award winning organisation for MWOTY Arts Culture & Media 2022.

BlackFest are continuing to celebrate, cultivate and nurture black artists and communities this year through the claiming of historic buildings and spaces for art, trade and culture.

This year’s festival includes:

  • Opening event at the Pier Head – 24 September
  • As British As A Watermelon – 26 September 
  • Riddims Night – 27 September 
  • Spoken Word & Poetry – 28 September
  • World Heart Day – 29 September
  • Independent Film Screening – 30 September
  • Diasporic Dialogues – 02 October

Plus, Workshops Throughout The Festival.

For details on every BlackFest 2022 event visit their Eventbrite page here.

BlackFest 2022 Grand Launch

Following their amazing open-air event in 2020 outside the Palm House, BlackFest are heading back to the iconic venue, bigger and better, indoors and outdoors, with their Grand Festival Launch!

Head along and check out their full festival line up and what they have planned for this year’s festival and how you can get involved and be a part it!

They’re delighted to welcome back artists from our collective and some new emerging artists.

Enjoy some LIVE Music, Poetry, Mini-Fashion Show, Afrodance Workshop, Yoga with Nu and Community Performances.

LINE-UP INCLUDES:

Poetry from 5 amazing local poets – Naami Jane Soya, Addae G, Gerry Clarkson, Lizzie Lumenates and Cassius James.

LIVE Music and DJ Zeke – Starkey The Messenger, LeeTz, Nicaise Kanga, international artists Nazeem (Gambia), Yilly Ruel (Angola). And performing with us for the first time we have Andre Jahnoi decolonial Hip hop artiste, and Keith Cocker.

AfroDance and Yoga workshops – Join Afrodance Nation who are set to bring high energy ampiano beats and afro fusion street dance for audiences to get involved in learning cultural dance, rhythm (indoors).

And – weather permitting – they will head outdoors to experience zen and mindfulness through Yoga with Nu (please bring your own mats).

Throughout the day they will also have a Family Fun Workshop in Creative Writing and Story Telling through African Fabrics and a mini fashion show by Seven Streets Fashion by Tayamaeca Hughes. Local Traders will be selling jewellery arts, crafts and artisan goodies for you to buy and enjoy.

Workshops are suitable for all ages.

PLUS: Community Performances

Empowering Women’s Project performances – a celebration of some of their Empowering Women’s Project alumni. They ran the project earlier this year, bringing Queen vibes with creative writing pieces with Mahsa Mojarad and Samira Persia Kamali.

The Wavertree Community Choir headed up by the award-winning choir director and vocal coach Hayli Kincade; bringing the local community together through uplifting gospel songs.

To end the day they welcome Batala Mersey – an upbeat and energetic community drumming group bringing the rhythms of Afro-Brazilian samba! Light and dark illuminate each other in an exciting fusion of samba.

They have limited Spaces for stalls left- if interested please get in touch on info@blackfest.co.uk.

Oktoberfest 2022

Dig out your dirndls and dust down your lederhosen – the biggest authentic Oktoberfest in the North West is coming to Liverpool’s Sefton Park.

Oktoberfest Liverpool will be running from Wednesday, September 28th to Sunday, October 2nd and will feature events and activities for all the family.

As well as evening sessions on each day of the festival, there will be afternoon entertainment at the weekend, with plenty of time to enjoy everything that’s going on, in and around the big top.

A Bavarian food village will be serving a range of traditional German food from sauerkraut to Bratwurst, mouth-watering roasted meats to delicious dumplings and the perfect pretzels, with authentic Bavarian beer from acclaimed brewery Maxlrainer on hand to wash it all down.

La Feria – A Festival of Latin A...

An exciting, colourful and magical festival of Latin American Arts & Culture is coming to Liverpool, with innovative and diverse events, performances and activities that will give all audiences the chance to experience the power of Latin American Arts & Culture in different settings.

La Feria, which runs from 16th to 18th September 2022, is a festival run by Liverpool’s own LUMA Creations, funded through Granada Foundation, Arts Council England (Artists’ Commissions), LCCG, Community fund and the organisation’s own raised funds.

The line-up features award-winning quintet Camila y Silvio from Chile at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall; street performance by the colourful Colombian company Cusan Theatre; dance showcases at the Liverpool Central Library with Colibri from Mexico and Caporales San Simon Sucre from Bolivia; and a day of amazing mouth-watering array of cuisine from Latin American countries such as Peru, Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Cuba & Mexico and much more at District in the Baltic Triangle.

Brazilica Samba Carnival

Liverpool will come alive with a dazzling array of music, dance and colour this summer as Britain’s biggest Brazilian-style carnival returns on Saturday 6 August.

The highlight of Brazilica Festival is the spectacular street carnival which winds its way through the city centre streets on Saturday evening, with plenty of photo opportunities (and bars and pubs!) on the route.

Performers taking part in this year’s Brazilica carnival include Liverpool Samba School, Batala Mersey, Katumba (Liverpool), Wirral Samba Drummers, Paraiso School of Samba (London), Karamba Samba (Chester), Manchester School of Samba, Sambafriq (Chorley), Worldwise Samba Drummers (Preston), Samba Espirito (Lancaster), and Beatndrum (Belfast).

The parade starts at 7.30pm at Abercromby Square (next to The Cambridge pub) and will then turn onto Oxford Street, past the Metropolitan Cathedral and along Hope Street to The Phil. From there, the carnival moves down Hardman Street, Leece Street, past the front of St Luke’s Church, Bold Street and then Church Street, finishing in Williamson Square.

The legendary Brazilica after-party will take place at District in the Baltic Triangle, showcasing some of the amazing performers from UK samba bands as well as Brazilica DJs playing house, samba and all things Latin.

The event runs from 10pm – 3am and tickets priced £6 are available now from Skiddle.

Serious Nonsense Festival

Shakespeare North Playhouse and Prescot Town Centre will be packed with nonsense for this massive three-day adventure celebrating Edward Lear’s connection to Knowsley.

Lear lived at Knowsley Hall and wrote his world-famous poem The Owl and the Pussycat there. To celebrate his love of all things nonsense and the fact that Knowsley is the Liverpool City Region Borough of Culture in 2022, the Serious Nonsense festival is coming to Prescot.

Experience Prescot as never before…

Flock to a giant birdcage where a tap-dancing canary is being chased by two feisty acrobatic cats. Explore the belly of a 50 ft sperm whale, mop the brow of a giant Hippochondriac Hippopotamus as he stumbles through the town centre nursing a toothache, or book into the smallest Hotel in the world featuring trumpeting bell boys and acrobatic chambermaids.

You can even watch a real-life owl and pussycat tell tales of the sea in their own pea green boat!

There will be live music and comedy and a very special programme of readings, performances and talks, curated in association with Writing on the Wall, featuring favourite authors such as Frank Cottrell Boyce, John Dougherty, Sarah Asuquo, Michael Rosen and Lemn Sissay.

This is a weekend not to be missed – for all ages!

Festival highlights include Storytime with Frank Cottrell Boyce, stand-up comedy with Shappi Khorsandi and a conversation with Brookside favourite Eithne Brown who will be considering the similarities between Shakespeare and soap!

How to book tickets

Tickets for the Festival Highlights will go on sale soon, but all other acts across the weekend are FREE to enjoy and no booking is required.

Visit Culture Knowsley (www.cultureknowsley.co.uk) for the full programme and to book your tickets.

The Serious Nonsense Festival is part of Knowsley’s year as the Liverpool City Region Borough of Culture and is delivered in partnership with Shakespeare North Playhouse, Writing on the Wall and Milapfest.

Liverpool Literary Festival 2022

Join Liverpool Literary Festival for their annual celebration of some of the country’s finest writers.

An unmissable weekend of live events featuring Patrick Gale, Joanna Trollope, Ann Cleeves and Helen Oyeyemi, with many more big names to be revealed over the coming weeks.

Booking opens on 1 August 2022.

For regular updates, visit: www.liverpool.ac.uk/literary-festival/

Gravity Festival

Gravity festival returns with more conversations that matter

Authors Lissa Evans, Katherine May, Kit de Waal and Tony Schumacher headline exciting weekend of events hosted from Liverpool’s Calderstones Park, 29 September – 2 October.

Gravity is a festival for our times that fuses great books and novels with intimate conversations about life’s ups and downs.

This year’s programme – which takes place online and in person – includes talks from guest speakers and wellbeing activities such as poetry walks, yoga and Shared Reading.

Highlights include:

BBC1 ‘The Responder’ writer, Liverpool-born Tony Schumacher in conversation about the personal experiences that inspired the hit show.

Hannah Chukwu, series editor of Penguin’s Black Britain: Writing Black, will be curating one day of yet to be announced events with a panel of brilliant black writers.

Author of New York Times bestseller, Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times Katherine May in conversation with researcher of autism and literature Melissa Chapple and Emeritus Professor of Literature and Psychology at the University of Liverpool, Philip Davis (Reading for Life).

Journalist Tomiwa Owalade and founder and director of The Reader, Jane Davis, share their admiration for the clear sightedness and the sometimes-hard truths found in the essays of American writer James Baldwin.

BAFTA-winning television producer, author of novels for both adults and children, Lissa Evans joins Bootle-born screenwriter and author Frank Cottrell-Boyce for a chat on children’s books, imagination, and Lissa’s award-winning novel Wed Wabbit.

Kit de Waal author of international best seller and winner of the Irish Novel prize My Name Is Leon talking about the difficulties and joys of growing up poor and mixed race, and her powerful belief in love and books.

A draw-along with V&A Award winning author and illustrator Jarvis as they talk about his latest picture book The Boy with Flowers in his Hair.

Roosevelt Montas, author of Rescuing Socrates, talks to Neil Atkinson (Anfield Wrap) and Pranav Sood about how, as a Dominican-born teenager in Queens, NY, great books changed his life.

Tickets are on sale here: www.thereader.org.uk/get-involved/gravity-festival

Mandela Freedom Festival

A free festival will take place in Liverpool later this month to celebrate the visit of Nelson Mandela’s family to the city as a new memorial to the revolutionary leader in Princes Park nears completion.

The event is part of a week-long celebration being organised by Toxteth-based charity Mandela8 which commissioned the official memorial.

The afternoon festival – taking place on Saturday 23rd July from 12:30pm until 5:30pm – has been curated by Africa Oyé who recently celebrated their 30th anniversary with their own milestone festival just last month.

The musical offering promises ‘live performances from the best of South Africa and Liverpool talent’ with headline slots from international stars, BCUC and Nkulee Dube. Merseyside will be well represented by Ni Maxine, Sense of Sound Choir, AMBA, Staged Kaos and Stuart B.

The festival will also feature a range of traders selling food, drinks, arts and crafts, as well as free family workshops from the likes of Movema, LFC’s Open Goals Project, Katumba, LUSH, North West Cancer Research and Scouse Flowerhouse and much more.

The Mandela Freedom Festival will take place on Saturday 23rd July 2022 from 12:30pm until 5:30pm. Entrance is free and you do not need a ticket.

For more information on the festival and other events during Mandela Week, visit mandela8.org.uk.

Pride In Liverpool

The Pride in Liverpool festival, will take place at the Pier Head.

2022 is the year that we all “Come Together”. The Liverpool Pride 2022/23 theme has been chosen to represent not only the city region’s LGBT+ community returning to in-person events and much needed connection to each other, but the need to come together as one united community, now more than ever, as we continue to have our rights and freedoms attacked.

Following the annual March With Pride (registrations now open), the free Pride in Liverpool festival, sponsored by Barclays, will centre around the Pier Head.

In keeping with the theme’s ethos of togetherness and collaboration, LCR Pride Foundation is also supporting events in other parts of the region, including St Helens Pride (2nd July) and Pride at the Seaside (27th August), a brand new event in New Brighton, Wirral.

“Come Together” also speaks to the need for the LGBT+ community and its allies in the region to unite, take action and be heard on issues such as hate crime against LGBT+ people, the exclusion of Trans and Non-Binary people from the proposed conversion therapy ban and continued discrimination against the LGBT+ community.

The new campaign year will see LCR Pride Foundation continue to work with partners from across the region to progress its founding aim of making the Liverpool City Region the most LGBT+ friendly in the UK.

For more information on Liverpool Pride and their theme, events, initiatives and organisational activities visit: https://lcrpride.co.uk