Babies jamming to Bob Marley, a circus performance in a historic Minster and a trip to the seaside… Hull’s flagship cultural event has unveiled its action-packed line-up for 2024.
Award-winning international arts event, the Freedom Festival, returns with a programme of free to attend outdoor street performances along with ticketed indoor shows celebrating the city’s cultural heritage and diversity through music, dance, theatre, and visual arts.
The annual Festival will take place in galleries, museums, theatres, and public spaces across Hull between 28 August and 1 September – with an additional Freedom on Tour, a day of free cultural seaside entertainment in Bridlington on Friday 30 August.
Among headline acts will be Eternity at Hull Minster, a production by the renowned Australian theatre company, Circa, involving dramatic acrobatics and awe-inspiring feats under the gold-leaf nave and chancel roof of the 700-year-old building.
Transformed into a stage for the hour-long circus performance, the Minster plays host to acrobatics on the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, with tickets costing from £18.
For younger families, the weekend also offers a chance to get their little ones dancing to the greatest hits of Bob Marley for Babies when Spanish company La Petita Malumaluga stage a show fusing music, movement and visuals arts at Hull Truck Theatre.
Four singing dancers, or four dancing singers, and a cellist perform the music of Bob Marley in an immersive experience where families are actively encouraged to get up and join in the fun. Tickets for the show on the Saturday and Sunday cost £5.50 each.
Across the weekend, music will take centre stage in the city’s Zebedee’s Yard, with live performances from some of the city’s freshest talent including Yxngmind, a Zimbabwean Hip-Hop artist who lives in Hull, and Avis, a four-piece Indie Rock band based in Hull that recently featured on BBC 6 Music.
Among other international acts aiming to bring a smile to the faces of visitors, is Belgium’s Compagnie Krak whose Bench Invasion will see 10 people, each with their own bench carried under their arm, invite members of the public to sit down for a chat in Hull’s Whitefriargate on the Saturday and Sunday.
A variety of free-to-attend shows will be on offer around the Bridlington Spa on the seafront for Freedom on Tour, including Barrière by Sur Mesure, four artists blending music performance and street theatre on top of an old barrier on the seafront, and Tony & Ray Find Their Feet by Rudkin & Hicks, an eccentric dance of slapstick and tomfoolery.
For the full programme, and ticket details, visit www.freedomfestival.co.uk
For places to stay and visitor information, see www.visithull.org
Photo credit: Circa Eternity, Chris Taylor and Damien Bredberg