Award winning festival to take over city for whole month

A multi-award-winning festival is returning to Liverpool for a whole month. Blackfest is taking over the city with 16 different events including music, theatre, film and spoken word - all hosted inside community spaces and established venues.

The annual combined arts festival platforms, empowers and develops work by black artists across the region. Founded in 2018 by Jubeda Khatun, the events aim to answer a crucial need in the city’s cultural offering by bridging the gap between institutions and the marginalised communities they represent.

This year's programme is being launched on Saturday, September 7, with a creative corner and will run until Thursday, October 31, when there will be a "fashion fest finale" as the closing ceremony.

However, between those dates, you can enjoy the likes of sustainable workshops with Michelle Odwyer, exploration of black feminity with Ridwa Horreh and cultural liberation with Cara Walker. Also rounding off the programme is a one-woman show by Heather Tomlinson and a celebration of Courtney Pine and his involvement in the British Jazz scene.

The events all aim to push Blackfest’s core mission which is to “cultivate and nurture work from black artists and communities. Reflecting the dual identities, multiple experiences and narratives not seen and heard.

"Putting the lens to stories that are political, social, economically and emotionally charged that simultaneously intertwine to bring together our identities of what it means to be black and British in the UK today.”

The organisers behind the festival hope the yearly event will bring about a social change in the ecology of the arts in Liverpool.