大象传媒

FREEDOM FESTIVAL IS BACK!

Grab a seat to Hull鈥檚 award-winning festival from anywhere in the world

Freedom Festival takes place 听4-6 September 2020 with a programme broadcast via the 大象传媒 and digitally for audiences to experience at home during what would have been the annual outdoor festival weekend.

The online programme includes internationally renowned artists Kaleider, Luke Jerram and Luke Wright alongside local talent Downtown Kayoto, Emma Fee and Chiedu Oraku.

Grab a front row seat to Hull鈥檚 award-winning arts festival from anywhere in the world and get ready to experience Freedom Festival from home.听

For the first time in 13 years, Hull city centre won鈥檛 be filled with crowds of people as performers dance on the side of buildings and giant giraffes parade down Whitefriargate. Instead, the team behind the city鈥檚 international arts festival has responded to unprecedented times with a programme to be broadcast digitally and via the 大象传媒 during what would have been the festival weekend.

A festival where audiences expect the unexpected, Freedom wasn鈥檛 going to let a global pandemic stop the festival fun, but with audience, artist and staff safety the top priority, this year鈥檚 festival had to look a bit different.

That鈥檚 why from Friday 4 September, while the world continues to find a new normal and stay safe, Freedom Festival 2020 will be a one-off festival to be enjoyed from the comfort of your own home, with an online programme including music, dance, circus, spoken word, talks and debates.听听

In the first of three events taking place over the next 12 months, get ready for intimate moments with thought-provoking, playful and powerful performances addressing the world we live in. Featuring international talent alongside local acts, expect robot selfies, timely debates which tackle issues of our time and bedtime stories the kids will remember for years.

Freedom Friday - Grab a front row seat to Hull

While Freedom Friday looks a bit different to usual, tune in from 7pm on Friday evening for 大象传媒 Radio Four鈥檚 Front Row, presenting a Freedom Talks Special exploring whether art and creativity has to be socially or politically charged to be seen as 鈥榞reat art鈥�.

Later, over on 大象传媒 Radio Humberside, tune into a Freedom Festival Special you won鈥檛 want to miss. Hear exclusive content from Hull鈥檚 best unsigned acts and relive your Freedom Festival highlights.听听

In collaboration by Lucas De Man and Company New Heroes, Hopes and Fears Across the Water will premiere at 6pm on Friday night. Presented in touching and inspiring online sessions, spoken word performers from the UK and the Netherlands collaborate around the urgent themes of privacy and surveillance, division and isolationism and the climate emergency in a post COVID-19 world.听 听听

If you鈥檙e after something for the whole family to watch, multi award-winning circus legends Les 7 Doigts will be joining the festival virtually, all the way from Canada. Enjoy Reversible from the comfort of your home at 7pm and then tune in again on Saturday at 7pm to watch Sequence 8.听听 听

From playful performances to kitchen discos听

Throughout the weekend there鈥檒l be surprises for some of the city鈥檚 young people as Luke Jerram鈥檚 sound illuminated artwork Lullaby is delivered at dusk to streets in the city in partnership with Back To Ours. Plus, there鈥檒l be bedtime stories to remember, delivered from familiar Hull faces Mikey Martins, Peter Levy and Kofi Smiles.听

Tune into exclusive DJ sets for and a dance around your kitchen with some of your Freedom faves: The Broken Orchestra, Superhallo, Alex Figueira, Superhallo, Pax Nindi, Make Noise and Matt Burr. Of course it wouldn鈥檛 be Freedom Festival without a performance from Hull鈥檚 Freedom Chorus as they perform together virtually for us.听 听 听

What about dancing? Watch Pulse! 1.5 for interactive workshops using household items and gripping choreography, or sign up to take part in the Sunday afternoon Social Distancing Club with Murmuration Arts and Kingston Swing.

We know you love circus too so we commissioned Can鈥檛 Sit Still Theatre to create Play-Along with Plink and Boo. Made especially for 2-6 year olds, this special digital and physical circus-theatre experience explores what happens when people don鈥檛 fit into boxes. Ahead of the performance on Saturday and Sunday, you're invited to make props from around your house.

Our friends at the Big Malarkey Festival will present The Reset Lab on Saturday and Sunday for a special magazine style show hosted by the city鈥檚 young people. Join them to press the reset button on what you want to keep and lose from lockdown.听听

For audiences who prefer to sit down, enjoy a film programme which includes the online premiere of Mind on the Run, The Basil Kirchin Story, a very moving documentary about the SESSION project and lose yourself in the beautiful ROAD movie. All films will be available to view for 72 hours over the festival weekend.

Robot selfies to Hull鈥檚 story - it鈥檚 time to get involved

Submit your selfie and see if it鈥檚 selected to be drawn by robots on an empty Hull Truck Theatre stage as creative company Kaleider, who brought PIG to the city in 2018, bring a sense of togetherness to a community physically separated for a long time. A Portrait Without Borders will premiere at Hull before going on a national tour.听

Contribute to The Hull Story Map, a new commission from Humber Mouth, Hull鈥檚 literature festival, created by Joanna Walsh for residents of Hull to tell their stories about the city. From a single word to a short story watch as a rich, evocative mood map of Hull slowly comes into being.

On Saturday night experience a look at trust and privilege in the age of Brexit in the third of Luke Wright鈥檚 trilogy of political verse, co-commissioned by Freedom Festival. The Remains of Logan Dankworth was originally due to be showcased at Freedom Festival, so the team worked with Nova Studios to film an exclusive recording of Luke performing the piece in Hull.听听

The Freedom Talks programme, in partnership with The Wilberforce Institute, will see discussions debating issues such as entrenched racism and modern day slavery in our area.听 听 听

Mikey Martins, Artistic Director and Joint Chief Executive of Freedom Festival Arts Trust, said: 鈥淲hile this year鈥檚 festival looks different and will certainly be an alternative experience to what we鈥檙e used to with Freedom, we鈥檙e excited to still be bringing extraordinary art and culture celebrating local and international talent direct to peoples鈥� homes. We know it鈥檚 not the same as experiencing the exhalation of our live festival, that can鈥檛 be replicated online, but there are certainly a few perks to an online festival. No time-slot clashes, no queues and you can take an interval any time you like!

鈥淲e take pride in the many ways we connect with communities, our internationalism and our ability to respond to what鈥檚 happening in the world and we鈥檙e extremely proud of our team and the partners and artists who鈥檝e taken on the challenge to help us create a timely and engaging programme during lockdown.

鈥淲e know for some going online can feel a bit scary, so we鈥檝e tried to make it as simple as possible. Much like our live festival, we鈥檝e tried to create something for everyone and there are lots of ways to get involved. Once content becomes available it鈥檒l be there on our website and app for you to watch over the whole weekend.鈥�

Anthony Baker, Executive Director and Joint CEO of Freedom Festival, continued: 鈥淲e鈥檙e really proud to have curated a programme that responds to current issues. As you鈥檇 expect from Freedom, it鈥檚 multi-layered, surprising and experimental as this year we can play with new art forms. We鈥檙e excited to try something new and delighted to have the support of the 大象传媒 as our official media partner.

鈥淲e鈥檙e incredibly thankful to Hull City Council, Arts Council England and all our local sponsors and partners for their continued support, as each of our partners has been facing their own individual challenges. We鈥檙e grateful they continue to recognise the place arts and culture has in enriching society alongside supporting economic growth.鈥�

The Freedom Festival at Home programme is available at or on its app.听