Event type: Festival

Liverpool Arab Arts Festival 2022

This year marks 20 years since the first Liverpool Arab Arts Festival was held in the city. For two decades Liverpool Arab Arts Festival has provided a platform for Arab art and culture, celebrating Arab artists across a range of artforms including music, performance, theatre, literature, spoken word, visual art and more.

The festival theme for 2022 is  نقطة وصل – Nuqtat Wasl – A Point of Connection.

Some of this year’s events include:

Yemen In Conflict Exhibition
Across Liverpool

Original poems written by diasporic Yemeni communities in the UK, and presented in both English and Arabic, will be exhibited across venues in Liverpool during the festival for Yemen in Conflict.

Listings

Yemen in Conflict exhibition
Multiple Venues (see below)
Thursday 7 July – Sunday 17 July Visual art / poetry
Free

Exhibition of original poetry by the Yemeni diaspora communities in the UK across various venues in Liverpool:

  1. Merseyside Yemeni Community Association, 111 Beaumont St, Liverpool L8 0XA. See online for opening times.
  2. Toxteth Library, Windsor St, Liverpool L8 1XF. Opening times: 10am – 6pm Monday and Tuesday. 10am-4pm Saturday
  3. University of Liverpool, School of Law & Social Justice, Liverpool L69 7ZR – Window display
  4. News from Nowhere, 96 Bold St, Liverpool L1 4HY – Window display

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Film Screening: The Stories We Tell
VideOdyssey, 37-45 Windsor St, Toxteth, Liverpool L8 1XE
Sunday 10 July, 4-6:30pm

£5 / Pay What You Can

Liverpool Arab Arts Festival and SAFAR invite you on a tour of contemporary Arab cinema through a diverse selection of short films which explore the 2022 SAFAR festival theme, ‘The Stories We Tell’.

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A.MAL Presents: Working with Family Archives from North Africa
Monday 11 July, 5-7pm
Free Online Talk

Moderated by Jessica El Mal, A.MAL presents a discussion into this topic from the perspective of food historian Salma Serry of Sufra Kitchen, artist Imane Zoubai and media scholar Elodie Sacher.

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Film Screening: The Grave Digger’s Wife
VideOdyssey, 37-45 Windsor St, Toxteth, Liverpool L8 1XE
Tuesday 12 July, 6-8pm
£5 / Pay What You Can

Guled and Nasra are a loving couple, living in the outskirts of Djibouti city with their teenage son, Mahad. They are facing difficult times: Nasra urgently needs an expensive surgery to treat a chronic kidney disease. Guled is already working hard as a gravedigger to make ends meet: how can they find the money to save Nasra and keep the family together? Part of SAFAR Film Festival.

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Arabic Song Workshop with Camille Maalawy
Merseyside Yemeni Community Association, 111 Beaumont St, Liverpool L8 0XA
Thursday 14 July, 6-9pm
£4

Join Mezzo Soprano Camille Maalawy for a choir performance workshop in the heart of Toxteth, the centre of Liverpool’s Arabic community at Merseyside Yemeni Community Association.

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London Syrian Ensemble
Liverpool Philharmonic Music Room, Philharmonic Hall, Hope St, Liverpool L1 9BP
Friday 15 July, 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm
£13 / £10

A stunning collective of eight musicians and graduates from Syria’s renowned Damascus Conservatoire.

Book The London Syrian Ensemble tickets here.

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Working with Family Archives, An Encounter (Online Workshop)
Saturday 16 July, 11am – 1pm
£3 / Pay What You Feel

Jessica El Mal and Elodie Sacher of A.MAL will guide you through a digital space for a fruitful, collaborative exchange about approaches to working with family archives.

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Book Launch & Event: A Journey to Yemen
Merseyside Yemeni Community Association, 111 Beaumont St, Liverpool L8 0XA
Saturday 16 July, 1-4pm Book launch and event
Free

Join for the launch This free celebratory event at Merseyside Yemeni Community Association will launch Yemen in Conflict, a new publication of poetry from diasporic Yemeni communities in the UK, written in both English and Arabic. It will also feature screenings, talks and food.

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Curfew
Unity Theatre, 1 Hope Pl, Liverpool, L1 9BG
Saturday 16 July, 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm Dance performance
£10 / £8 concs

Hawiyya Dance Company and El-Funoun Palestinian Dance Troupe present Curfew, a contemporary dance production. Curfew speaks to a world that is numbed and no longer able to respond to the constant bombardment of news, surveillance and manipulation.

Book Curfew tickets here.

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Family Day
Sefton Park Palm House
Sunday 17 July, 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Free

The return of our closing spectacular at the Palm House featuring British-Somali musician Aar Manta; the return of the trailblazing duo from the Golan heights, TootArd; Hawiyya Dance Company and El-Funoun Palestinian Dance Troupe; Gazelleband; Ali Al-Jamri’s al-Usra wal-Sufra project; children’s storyteller Elias Matar and more.

A free, all day celebration of Arab art, culture and community in the heart of Liverpool the Family Day brings music and performance to the Palm House, along with a series of stalls including Arabic and Middle Eastern food, craft, traditional practices like calligraphy and activities focused on children, like storytelling.

Check out more of the events that have been announced so far at https://www.arabartsfestival.com/2022festival/

Walton Hall Park Big History Event wit...

Join #ArtsGroupie next weekend at Walton Hall Park for this spectacular FREE event.

Creative workshops, including Drama, Arts, Crafts, Shadow Puppetry, and an appearance by their living statue of Kitty Wilkinson. #Community #Heritage #shadowpuppet #oralhistory

Friends of Walton Hall Park have said,

“Everyone is welcome to come along to our FREE big history event. We have lots going on and lots of activities but we also need you and your memories of the park.

Did you play in the park as a child? Do you have photographs that you can give to us or make copies of? We would love to see them and add to Walton hall parks heritage.

We will be bringing back some of the parks history including the Music with a live jazz band. As this event is funded by the Arts Council for the Queens Jubilee you will also be making nature crowns for our very own Walton Kings and Queens. We have shadow puppets, arts and crafts and much more .”

Saturday 12-5pm
Sunday 12-5pm
Sunday 7-9pm evening concert

LIMF 2022

LIMF is back! and this year’s theme is POWER TO THE PEOPLE & PURPOSE.

As society becomes awakened to the need for social justice, equality, equity and true inclusion, LIMF celebrates those trailblazing people, movements and music genres that have changed the game by manifesting that the power is in the people.

LIMF ’22 will forego the mass outdoor multi-stage festival for a curated and more nuanced programme that will take place across city centre at important venues and spaces. Encompassing international and national household names alongside new voices and emerging sounds, the festival takes off from where it left off in 2019, but with a decidedly different ambition.

So who is on the multi-venue, line-up?

British reggae and pop band legends UB40 ft Ali Campbell, iconic American hip hop trio De La Soul, Liverpool royalty The Zutons, one of the hottest new bands around at the moment Red Rum Club, all-female DJ Collective Girls Don’t Sync, critically acclaimed rapper Kojey Radical, electrifying performers House Gospel Choir and the singer behind the unmistakable M People vocals, Heather Small, are among the first acts to be announced for LIMF 2022.

Venues include the M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, the Bombed Out Church (St Luke’s), Invisible Wind Factory, 24 Kitchen Street, District, Arts Club Liverpool and Camp and Furnace.

It’s a mixture of free and ticketed events, and there’s something for everyone with under-18 gigs such as LIMF Presents… The Shubz which will see a host of BBC Radio 1XTRA DJs including Kenny AllStar, Sian Anderson and Cuppy playing the very best in grime and hip hop.

Salaam Festival

Launching this July, Salaam Festival is a brand new Manchester-based biennial – exploring the future of Muslim arts and culture, through a programme of forward-thinking events, groundbreaking showcases and international collaborations.

This artist and community-led festival will present new and original works from across the spectrum of visual art, music, culture, performance, dance, film, discussion and food. The festival will bring together internationally-renowned artists from different art forms and backgrounds to bring progressive, contemporary work to new and existing audiences across Manchester and the World.

The festival will premiere five ‘New Works’, beginning with an immersive opening ceremony ‘Mehfil’. Zaman presents acoustic and visual artistry in sacred forms by Nouredinne Khourchid and Tunisian street artist Mohamed Koumenji aka Koom. Supplementing the performances, award-winning chef Anissa Helou will treat guests to a sumptuous Moroccan-inspired feast.

Among the new works is also a new composition based on the poet ‘Iqbal’ and his work, written and composed by Rushil Ranjan, performed at the Albert Hall by Manchester Camerata with the stunning vocals of Abi Sampa.

Other premieres include a contemporary dance performance titled ‘Muguwa’ from dance choreographer Abdul ‘Abdanger’ Kineyenya and Ârōōr /ǎ, an Afro-Futurist project that tries to imagine the possibilities of a Somali future written and performed by Elmi Ali, directed by Yusra Warsama and produced by Numbi Arts. Plus, a contemporary Islamic garden-inspired installation by Jameel Prize-nominated artist Sofia Karim at Lincoln Square.

The festival will also feature five nights of music at venues across the city centre, free programming in the ‘Medina’ – the festival hub at St Anne’s Square, and a series of daily conversations called ‘Sohbet’ at Portico Library.

Salaam Festival will take place across a variety of Manchester’s most iconic and exciting venues and buildings, from Manchester Cathedral, Albert Hall and The Portico Library, to Band on the Wall and HOME.

Wirral Summer Pops 2022

The Wirral Summer Pops festival in Cheshire welcomes headliners Hue & Cry and local talent Zuzu for 2022.

As the region prepares for a busy cultural season, the hugely popular Summer Pops at Parkgate Cheshire will be returning to the banks of the River Dee for Marquee Week at The Neston Club, formerly known as Neston Cricket Club, On Friday 8th July the venue will be welcoming a host of gifted and popular musical talents to make sure the visiting crowds will be delighted.

The Summer Pops event will be headlined by internationally renowned group Hue & Cry. This award-winning and bestselling duo, featuring brothers Patrick and Gregory Kane, took the music scene by storm in the eighties, after their first single ‘Labour of Love’ made the Top 10 in 1987.

Hue & Cry then enjoyed a series of hits including ‘Looking for Linda’ and ‘Violently’ which formed a part of their successful album releases during the decade. The band have continued to record and play live ever since, having now sold in excess of two million records worldwide. 

 

Pint of Science Festival 2022

Tickets are now on sale for the world’s largest festival of public science talks that will see University researchers take to the stage in venues across Liverpool this May.

The Pint of Science festival is returning to Liverpool for the first time since 2019 following two years of online events.

The three-day festival, which takes place between 9-11 May, has seen a huge growth in popularity since it started ten years ago, with events in over 25 countries and hundreds of cities around the world.

Twenty-seven Liverpool researchers will be showcasing some of the latest, exciting research happening at the University through a unique line up of talks, demonstrations and live experiments. Talk topics this year include the future of healthcare and work, gut microbes, cancer, air pollution, climate change, Covid-19 research and much, much more.

The festival is being staged at city-centre venues Leaf on Bold Street, Tempest on Tithebarn and The Long Shots.

Tickets cost £5 each and are available from the Pint of Science website.

For the full programme and booking details please visit: https://pintofscience.co.uk/events/liverpool

Beckett: Confined

The University of Liverpool’s Institute of Irish Studies and University of Notre Dame in association with Unreal Cities is pleased to present Beckett: Confined, a three-day festival of Samuel Beckett’s plays, associated musical performances and lectures.

Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) was one of the 20th century’s most celebrated playwrights and authors, winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969. His works examine what it means to be human, in all its absurd, existentialist and sometimes bleak comedy.

The programme presents an exciting blend of Beckett’s work, including multiple performances of some of his most rarely performed plays – Ohio Impromptu, Catastrophe, and Krapp’s Last Tape, alongside a musical series featuring Words and Music, his radio play collaboration with Morton Feldman, and a Ghost Trio concert with Fidelio Trio performing Beethoven and Schubert, two of his favourite composers.

Liverpool Against Racism Music Day

Some of the city’s best-known artists and DJs are set to appear in a fab Music Day to launch the new Liverpool Against Racism (LAR) festival.

The LAR Music Day on Sunday 24 April is part of a week-long series of cultural events championed by Mayor Joanne Anderson and is being held to promote conversations around progressive and impactful anti-racist practice.

It’s guaranteed to get Liverpool talking – and dancing!

Over 50 artists will be performing live in Baltic Triangle venues Camp & Furnace, District and 24 Kitchen Street. So if you’re up for a great day out why not grab yourself a ticket.

Tickets Available Now. £5 + fees per venue.

Caribbean Music Festival – Launc...

Caribbean Music Festival hosts its official launch party with international DJ’s from the Caribbean ready to set the summer vibes for you with the best of Reggae, Soca, Dancehall and more.

The launch party is held at Melodic Bar, with sets from DJ Icebergg and DJ Rockshun plus a special guest DJ.

The event is held Melodic Bar, Liverpool, L3 8HB. Doors open 3pm and admission is free.

A Lovely Poetry Festival

This summer, A Lovely Word in association with Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse bring a brand new poetry festival to the city for everyone!

At the Everyman Theatre from 1 – 9 July, it will celebrate writing, different voices and showcase the wonderful creative community of Liverpool. Liverpool is a poetry city. A Lovely Poetry Festival celebrates this, uniting, inspiring and galvanising the spoken word scene and creativity of the city through a week of headline poetry events, industry talks, a poetry slam, radio poetry competitions and a poetry factory. The festival will also include working with local poets such as Lyndsay Price, Gerry Clarkson and Olive Yoxall, as well as A Lovely Word artist-in-residence Amina Atiq. Together with nationally recognised “Poet Factory” Beth Calverley, the festival will gather and build a body of poetry on the ground floor of the Everyman, as local residents and visitors are encouraged to simply walk up and write a poem. A Lovely Poetry Festival 2022 Lineup Friday 1 July – Bistro A Lovely Poetry Slam Come and watch the first Poetry Slam from A Lovely Word, with £300 up for grabs, expect the best of Merseyside up and coming poetry talent, all with just 3 minutes on the mic! Saturday 2 July 2pm – 4pm – Amina Atiq Workshop – Ev1 Artist-in-Residence Amina Atiq leads a fab performance workshop. Tuesday 5 July 10am-7pm – The Poetry Factory! – Street Café 7.30pm – Hollie McNish and Michael Pedersen – Main Stage The poetry factory opens, for everyone to come along and be able to write a poem, and display it in the street café! The sensational Hollie and Michael take it away with a rip roaring set in the evening. Wednesday 6 July 10am-7pm – The Poetry Factory! – Street Café 6.30pm – Panel Discussion: Publishing Poetry – Bistro Write poems in the day, and come and learn all about the publishing industry in the evening, with expert panelists who know their stuff. Thursday 7 July 10am-7pm – The Poetry Factory! – Street Café 5.30pm – 7pm – Workshop with Gerry & Lyndsay – Ev1 7.30pm – Cheeky Poetry Bingo – Bistro More poetry writing for all, with Beth Calverley’s Poetry Machine arriving to generate poems for eagerly awaiting ‘customers’. Learn all about writing and performing with Lyndsay and Gerry, and then in the evening settle down to some cheeky bingo, with all sorts of whacky poetry games and prizes. Friday 8 July 10am-7pm – The Poetry Factory! – Street Café 5.30pm – 7pm – Workshop with Queer Bodies – Ev1 7.30pm – Lemn Sissay: My Name Is Why – Main Stage Following more poetry writing in the café, there’s a workshop with famous QueerBodies and a headline slot by 2012 Olympic Poet Laurette Lemn Sissay with a fab array of local support. Saturday 9 July 10am-7pm – The Poetry Factory! – Street Café 11am – 12am – Family Poetry Workshop – Bistro 11am – 4.30pm – Young Person’s Poetry School – Ev1 3pm – Liverpool Arab Arts Festival x A Lovely Word – Bistro (details TBA) 7.30pm – Nymphs & Thugs: LIVEwire – Main Stage A busy, day with loads of workshops for young people taking over, a collab events with LAAF, and settle in for an evening of 4 mindblowing poets plus music, presented by record label Nymphs & Thugs.