Event type: Festival

Guided tours of Museum’s Irish collections

In 2021, Liverpool Irish Festival began our custodianship of the Liverpool Irish Famine Trail. We formed a volunteer History Research Group (who’ve since undertaken 1,700+ hours of research) and released two books: Revive and Reveal (available in the Museum’s gift shop or here: liverpoolirishfestival.com/shop/). 

Having trained in tour creation and management – and thoroughly researched the Irish objects on display in Museum of Liverpool – the History Research Group now lead tours of the Museum of Liverpool’s Irish objects. Using live-link headsets, visitors will be guided through the collections, homing in on Irish objects. These headsets work over hearing aids.

These in-person tours additionally take in the Pilotage Building, just outside the Museum. Tours are anticipated to take approximately 45-60mins, depending on audience questions. These activities have been made possible with funds from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. 

People who’d like to visit the Irish objects tour in a self-guided trail (no booking needed) can use the guide map online liverpoolirishfestival.com/events/self-guided-irish-trail/ or may collect paper maps (for free) from leaflet holders in the Museum’s foyer. 

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Welcome Home/Fáilte Abhaile

Irish people have made homes all over the world and Liverpool is no exception, being known as East Dublin, East Belfast and the 33rd county! Taking this year’s theme of ‘arrivals’, the George Ferguson Irish Dance School and Merseyside’s Melody Makers have collaborated to produce a welcoming programme, celebrating what it is to arrive. Whether home is new or old, arriving there can be full of anticipation, expectation and nostalgia. We’ll also welcome new guests to the stage.

This engaging two-hour programme features over 50 musicians and dancers from across Merseyside. The performance takes place in one of Liverpool’s most emerald spaces: the ever-magnificent Sefton Park Palm House.

Liverpool Irish Festival is proud to present this thematic collaboration, building an ongoing series of bespoke programmes, and becoming a firm fixture of the Festival. Grab your tickets whilst you can. 

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Tony Birtill memorial lecture/ Léacht bliaintiúl in Tomós Antón Birtill

Conradh na Gaeilge Learpholl, in partnership with the Liverpool Irish Festival, are pleased to present the annual Tony Birtill Lecture.

On 21 Oct 2021, Liverpool (and Ireland) lost a great Irish Language supporter; Tony Birtill. He made an invaluable contribution to the conservation, promotion and teaching of the Irish language on Merseyside for over 30 years. A Gaeilgeoir (fluent Irish speaker) and walking enthusiast, Tony was also a keen historian and language activist. His widely acclaimed book Liverpool – A Hidden History gives a very incisive insight into the lives and living conditions of Irish emigrants living in Liverpool in the aftermath of the Great Famine (1845-1852).

This year’s memorial lecture is in two parts and will be delivered by local historian Greg Quiery and Dr. Eoghan Ahern from the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Irish Studies. Greg’s talk will be about the establishment of the Great Hunger commemoration memorial in the gardens of St Luke’s Bombed Out Church in 1998 and Dr. Ahern’s talk will be about the impact of the Famine on the Irish language. Join us to hear to Greg Quiery and Dr. Ahern deliver two most interesting talks.

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The Druids

The Druids Irish Folk Band are back with another master show, featuring captivating new blends of traditional Irish folk music and storytelling. This type of performance highlights the band’s rich musical heritage, weaving together timeless Irish ballad songs with the powerful narratives that have been passed down through generations.

The combination of music and stories would give audiences a deep dive into Ireland’s cultural history, offering a mix of lively jigs, heartfelt ballads and tales that reflect the country’s folklore, struggles, and triumphs. Irish folk bands often use this format to connect with their audiences on a more emotional level, while also providing an immersive, entertaining experience.

An Evening with Dross | Homotopia Festival 2025

7:30pm

In a time defined by division – what might happen if we allow ourselves space to dream? How do the stories we tell to & about ourselves shape the world around us? How might the voices of our queer ancestors forge our future?
Having cut her teeth across the UK cabaret circuit developing a unique performance style that blends spectacle with deep vulnerability, these are the questions at the heart of Dross’ solo theatrical debut. It’s a show about radical empathy, deep listening & re-membering ourselves.

Weaving a thread that is equal parts biography and fantasy – AN EVENING WITH DROSS is a kaleidoscopic multimedia patchwork that seamlessly blends film, physical theatre and lip-sync – ‘elevating the craft of Drag into a place of collective hallucination’.
Dross’ physical performance is the locus of this work, acting as a conduit for forgotten and familiar voices from queer activism & cultural history. Here, the Drag Queen is repositioned as a living archive; a way-finder in a constellation of contradictions.
Audiences have called it a ‘masterclass in the art of lip-sync’, a ‘queer séance’, an ‘intelligent and thoughtful reflection on LGBTQ+ identity and community’ & ‘beautiful, smart and hilarious in waves.’

The project was developed with the kind support of FACT Studio/Labs & Homotopia QueerCore artist development programme. First scratched as part of the Homotopia QueerCore showcase at the Everyman Theatre, & then at QUARRY, Liverpool in August 2023. Since then, working iterations/excerpts of the show have been presented at Shakespeare North Playhouse, Preston Fringe, & at None of the Above Cabaret: In Conversation with Travis Alabanza.

The completed work has been presented as part of Warrington Contemporary Arts Festival, The Arts Centre, Edge Hill University & at The Divine, London. We are looking to tour the work nationally from Autumn 2025 into 2026.
DROSS is a neurodiverse, queer performance maker, activist, producer and scholar, living and working in the Liverpool City Region. She was Director & Co-Producer for EAT ME (Liverpool’s radical queer performance collective & production house) from 2019 to 2024. Most recently she starred in Katarzyna Perlak’s art film The Land Beneath Sleeps Lightly presented for Liverpool Biennial 2025.

She has produced, hosted and presented work in an array of queer performance contexts nationally – including galleries, clubs, festivals & theatres. In 2023 she hosted the Liverpool Eurovision Finale party at Pier Head for 20,000 revellers. She has recently produced the sixth month drag and queer performance artist development/incubator project Pink Pony Club, for emerging queer performance makers in Liverpool nightlife.

Her contemporaries (many of which also EAT ME alumni) include Sharon le Grand, Lasana Shabazz, Dan Chan, Midgitte Bardot, Franz Genau & Auntie Climax.
She is interested in horror, camp, magic & liberation. She is an interdisciplinary magpie, with wanton disregard for genre & form.

 

CREATIVE TEAM:
Devised and performed by Dross
Dramaturgy: Alice Holland
Script Advisor: Brendan Curtis
Musical Elements: Emily Meghan Lansley & Alex Germains
Animation Elements: Laura Spark
Costuming: Lizzie Biscuits
Show Manager(s) Danielle Scharpf & Evyn Seaton-Mooney

Mr Blackpool | Homotopia Festival 2025

7:30pm

Mr Blackpool is a seaside rave at the end of the world. A brand new theatrical installation from award-winning theatre maker Harry Clayton-Wright embedding the history of ‘end of the pier’ entertainment, cabaret, variety, drag and dance music. Exploring the past and future of this iconic seaside town through a contemporary performance lens, come prepared to dance, sweat and escape into this tongue-in-cheek extravaganza.

Created and performed in collaboration with Oliver Gregory, aka Miss Titty Kaka, an international showgirl sensation who started their performance career at Blackpool drag institution Funny Girls when they were 18 years old. Also featuring Aish Bell Docherty and Sam Bell Docherty on the decks and on stage. A married dancing duo from Blackpool whose work has been seen on stage and screen.

Material (developed and created in a recent research and development process at ACCA in October 2024), will be performed and tested for the first time with an audience in an exciting evening of presentation and conversation, including a post performance Q&A with the artists.
Commissioned and presented by Marlborough Productions and Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts. Research and development commissioned by Marlborough Productions, Homotopia, Shoreditch Town Hall and Cambridge Junction with support from The Old Electric and using public funding by Arts Council England

Liverpool Literary Festival 2025

The University of Liverpool’s Liverpool Literary Festival is back to celebrate a major milestone – its 10th anniversary.Taking place from Friday 17 to Sunday 19 October 2025, the Festival brings together bestselling authors, sharp minds, and passionate readers for a weekend of inspiring conversation, readings, and a shared love of literature.

Headlining the 2025 programme is Mark Kermode – renowned writer, film critic, and musician – who will appear in conversation with collaborator Jenny Nelson. The pair will discuss their forthcoming book, Surround Sound: The Stories of Movie Music.

Liverpool Literary Festival 2025: full line-up

Bestselling author Emma Jane Unsworth in conversation

Friday 17 October, 6pm, £12 

BAFTA-nominated and BIFA-winning screenwriter Emma Jane Unsworth opens the Festival with her acclaimed new novel Slags, a Vogue ‘Book of the Summer’. A University of Liverpool alumna, Unsworth is known for Animals, The Outlaws, and The Buccaneers, and is currently developing Slags for TV. Emma will be in conversation with Dr Danny O’Connor, Colm Tóibín Lecturer in Creative Writing.

How do we write about the Climate Crisis? John Ironmonger discusses his new novel The Wager and the Bear

Saturday 18 October, 10am, £8 

Author, zoologist and alumnus, John Ironmonger joins the Festival to discuss his latest novel The Wager and the Bear, a gripping tale of a dangerous bet and climate collapse.Best known for the international bestseller Not Forgetting the Whale, Ironmonger’s work explores environmental themes. He’ll be in conversation with Lecturer in English Language and Linguistics, Dr Jessica Hampton.

Exterminate/Regenerate: blowing your understanding of the Doctor Who universe wide open

Saturday 18 October, 1pm, £8

Writer, journalist and cultural historian, John Higgs discusses the hidden history behind one of the UK’s most beloved shows, Doctor Who.

The author of books on topics such as The Beatles, James Bond, William Blake and The KLF, Higgs will focus on his latest book Exterminate/Regenerate: The Story of Doctor Who – the first biography of the Time Lord. Interviewing Higgs will be Dr Matthew Bradley, Senior Lecturer in English Literature.

Fundamentally: Nussaibah Younis exploring love, radicalism and identity

Saturday 18 October, 2.30pm, £8 

Peacebuilding expert Dr Nussaibah Younis discusses her satirical novel Fundamentally – shortlisted for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction – which follows an academic tasked with rehabilitating women linked to ISIS.Younis is a former Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council and a widely published commentator on Iraq.

Searching for My Slave Roots with Malik Al Nasir

Saturday 18 October, 4pm, £10

Liverpool-born author, poet, and filmmaker Malik Al Nasir reads from his new book Slave Roots: From Gyana’s sugar plantations to Cambridge – published in August this year.Born in Liverpool to mixed parentage, Malik started tracing his roots back through Caribbean slavery over 20 years ago. His acclaimed research has earned recognition from leading historians and institutions.

Juno Dawson: talking witchcraft and confronting the good and evil in Human Rites

Saturday 18 October, 5.30pm, £10

Juno Dawson joins Dr Matthew Bradley to discuss Human Rites, the long-awaited final instalment to her number one bestselling fantasy series Her Majesty’s Royal Coven. 

Dawson is a novelist, screenwriter, journalist, and a columnist for Attitude magazine, whose books include the global bestsellers This Book is Gay and Clean. She won the 2020 YA Book Prize for Meat Market.

She also writes for television, including the much-praised ‘Interstellar Song Contest’ episode of Doctor Who, and has multiple shows in development both in the UK and US.

The stories of movie music: Mark Kermode and Jenny Nelson, on their new book Surround Sound

Saturday 18 October, 7pm, £12 

Mark Kermode, one of the UK’s most recognisable film critics, discusses his forthcoming book Surround Sound: The Stories of Movie Music.

Co-authored with radio producer Jenny Nelson, Surround Sound is a deep dive into the world of movie soundtracks, giving an insight into the emotional connection audiences form with film music.

As well as an award-winning film critic, Mark is a musician and radio and television presenter and hosts a popular film review podcast Kermode & Mayo’s Take with former BBC Radio broadcaster Simon Mayo.

Short Story competition winners – staff and student categories

Sunday 19 October, 10am, FREE

Join Dr Danny O’Connor, Colm Tóibín Lecturer in Creative Writing, for a special event celebrating the winners and runners-up of the Liverpool Literary Festival Short Story Competition.

This year’s theme was ‘anniversaries’, marking the Festival’s 10th year. Writers submitted stories of up to 1,500 words, with the very best published in an online anthology.

This competition, sponsored by Liverpool ONE, was judged by a panel including Festival Director Professor Greg Lynall, King Alfred Chair in English Literature.

The event will also feature readings from this year’s School of the Arts Literary Magazine.

Adele Zeynep Walton discusses Logging Off: The Human Cost of Our Digital World

Sunday 19 October, 11.30am £8

Journalist Adele Zeynep grew up online, building a career through social media – but after losing her sister to online harm, she began questioning the digital world’s impact.She joins the Festival to discuss her powerful new book Logging Off, in conversation with Dr Mark McGlashan, an expert on the language of online safeguarding.

Hattie Williams, in conversation about her debut novel Bitter Sweet

Sunday 19 October, 1pm, £8

Musician-turned-publisher Hattie Williams joins the Festival to discuss her debut novel Bitter Sweet – a gripping story of power, control, and silence in relationships.After touring Europe and releasing three albums, Hattie spent over a decade in publishing. Her second novel, Beginning. Middle. End., is already in the works.

The impact of crimes and abuse on families: Dorothy Koomson discusses her latest novel Give Him To Me

Sunday 19 October, 2.30pm, £10

Bestselling author Dorothy Koomson joins Senior Lecturer in English Literature, Dr Melissa Raines. Here Koomson will discuss her latest thriller Give Him To Me, out in paperback this August, and the theme of domestic abuse that runs through much of her work.

With over 2.5 million UK sales, Koomson is a literary trailblazer, featured on the 2021 Powerlist as one of the most influential Black people in Britain and was a former Women’s Prize judge.

Chris Shepherd takes us along Anfield Road, his debut graphic novel

Sunday 19 October, 4pm, £10

Artist and filmmaker Chris Shepherd joins Senior Lecturer in English Literature Dr David Hering to discuss his acclaimed debut graphic novel Anfield Road – a coming-of-age story set in 1980s Liverpool and named Observer Graphic Novel of the Month.

Shepherd’s award-winning career spans film, music, and teaching, with British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) and BAFTA recognition and collaborations with artists including Holly Johnson, and Reverend and the Makers.

Simon Hughes: Chasing Salah – the biography

Sunday 19 October, 5.30pm, £10

Simon Hughes is an award-winning journalist and author and covers Merseyside football for The New York Times’ The Athletic.He joins this year’s Festival to discuss his new book Chasing Salah, a definitive biography of Liverpool legend Mohamed Salah, the most famous Egyptian footballer in the history of the sport.

His book Red Machine won the Antonio Ghirelli Prize for Italian Soccer Foreign Book of the Year 2014, and his other titles include Secret Diary of a Liverpool Scout, Men in White Suits and Ring of Fire.

 

 

LA FERIA 2025

 

La Feria is the North of England’s leading International Festival of Latin American Arts & Culture, returning from 1 – 5 October 2025 with an extraordinary festival that unites people through the power of creativity, diversity and culture.

The theme for this year’s event is “Experience, Belong, Celebrate” with audiences invited to dive into a vibrant celebration of Latin American music, art and culture.

The festival will feature thought-provoking theatre, an exhibition of Latin American artists’ work and past festivals, a takeover of World Museum Liverpool, and a chance to experience the sounds and taste of the continent with authentic workshops, traders and cuisine at The Black-E.

From powerful live music to stories that stir the soul, the events have been curated by Liverpool’s own Luma Creations to transport audiences across borders and ‘connect them with the beating heart of Latin America’.

La Feria is more than a festival—it’s a cultural bridge, a meeting point for the Latin American diaspora, the Liverpool City Region, and audiences from across the UK. It’s a space where heritage is honoured, stories are shared, and everyone is welcome.

Discover the full programme and join them for a truly unforgettable celebration. Everyone is welcome. Let’s celebrate together.

Latin American Artists Exhibition 1st – 31st October, Stable Gallery, St George’s Hall, FREE

Storytelling, Music & Poetry: La Charawilla & Eating Myself 1st October, Unity Theatre, £16.50

Antonio Monasterio Ensamble and Saranne 2nd October, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic’s Music Room, £19/£16/£14

Grupo Luma & Seba Barrientos Trío 3rd October, The British Music Experience, £16.50

Museum Takeover & Entrada 4th October, World Museum LiverpoolFREE

Kumbia Boruka & Chapuline 4th October, Future Yard, £16.50

A Taste of Latin America 5th October, The Black-E, FREE

You can also read our La Feria 2025 feature here

 

 

 

Trustee Recruitment

Liverpool Irish Festival is seeking skilled, experienced and enthusiastic individuals to join our Board of Trustees.

Do you possess the vision, time and commitment to help shape the future of LivIrishFest? We’re a dynamic forward-looking organisation looking to build on our annual Festival and year-round heritage offers.
Help us to flourish
Liverpool and Ireland’s powerful connection fires our project. You may have exactly the skills we need to move forward and thrive. Expressions of interest welcome until 14 Sept 2025. More details can be found here: https://www.liverpoolirishfestival.com/engage/board-trustee-vacancies.

 

Volunteering Opportunity

We are seeking volunteers for this year’s Liverpool Irish Festival.
Each year, our amazing volunteers bring their unique energy, warmth and knowledge to LivIrishFest. This year will be no exception… Volunteers are the ‘welcoming face’ of the Festival and the practical lynchpins behind the scenes. If you feel that you could be part of 2025’s cohort then don’t hesitate to apply!
Welcome!
This year’s Festival runs 16-26 October. We’d love to have you on the team. The closing date for applications is midnight, Sun 14 Sept 2025. You’ll find all the information you need here: https://www.liverpoolirishfestival.com/engage/volunteer.