The Freedom Festival is an annual music and performance arts festival held in the city of

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

, England. It is named in honour of the slave trade abolitionist, MP and son of Hull,

William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 1759 – 29 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist, and a leader of the movement to abolish the Atlantic slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780 ...

. The festival was established in 2007 to mark the 200th anniversary of Wilberforce's law, the

Slave Trade Act 1807 The Slave Trade Act 1807 ( 47 Geo. 3 Sess. 1. c. 36), or the Abolition of Slave Trade Act 1807, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom prohibiting the Atlantic slave trade in the British Empire. Although it did not automatica ...

, to abolish the slave trade in the British Empire. The eclectic mix of entertainment catered for at Freedom welcomes a varied audience, experiencing music, dance, art, street theatre and entertainment from across Europe. During its history has welcomed acts such as

Pixie Lott Victoria Louise "Pixie" Lott (born 12 January 1991) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. Her debut studio album, ''Turn It Up (Pixie Lott album), Turn It Up'' (2009), reached number six on the UK Albums Chart and sold over 1.5 millio ...

JLS JLS (initialism for Jack the Lad Swing) are a British boy band consisting of members Aston Merrygold, Oritsé Williams, Marvin Humes, and JB Gill; Williams formed the band. They initially signed with Tracklacers production company New Tr ...

The Saturdays The Saturdays are an English-Irish girl group based in London, England. The group formed during the summer of 2007 and has been on hiatus since 2014. The lineup consists of Frankie Bridge, Una Healy, Rochelle Humes, Mollie King, and Vanessa Whi ...

, Martha Reeves and The Vandellas and

The 1975 The 1975 are an English pop rock band formed in Wilmslow, Cheshire, in 2002. The band consists of Matty Healy (lead vocals, guitar, primary songwriter), Adam Hann (lead guitar), Ross MacDonald (bass), and George Daniel (drums, primary produ ...

, as well as many local bands and artists. In 2013 the delivery of the festival was handed over to the Freedom Festival Arts Trust, a charity whose core activity is to "engage and educate the public in the arts" centred around the annual Freedom Festival

2008

Originally held in the summer of 2008, the main festival stage was in Queen's Gardens in the city centre, along with smaller stages in Queen Victoria Square and Trinity Square (The Marketplace). The headlining act was

The Magic Numbers The Magic Numbers are an English alternative rock band consisting of two brother-and-sister pairs, from Hanwell in west London. The group was formed in 2002, releasing their debut album titled '' The Magic Numbers'' on 13 June 2005. Their follo ...

2009

The second staging of the event, in 2009, was a much expanded occasion, coinciding with the launch of the

Clipper Round the World Yacht Race The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is a biennial sailing race that takes paying amateur crews on one or more legs of a circumnavigation of the globe in 11 specially designed identical yachts owned by Clipper Ventures. Professional skippers ...

from the Hull Marina on the weekend of 11–13 September. Around 150,000 people attended various events around the city centre, including a spectacular fire display by French street art group Carabosse around the old fruit market

warehouse district This is a list of notable warehouse districts. A warehouse district or warehouse row is an area found in many urban setting known for being the current or former location of numerous warehouses. Logistically, warehouses are often located in indus ...

, and along the Humber waterfront. Major pop acts, as well as local talent performed on several stages throughout the city centre, including

Peter Andre Peter Andre (born Peter James Andrea; 27 February 1973) is a British-Australian singer, songwriter, and media personality. Born in England to Cypriot parents and raised in Australia, Andre achieved success in the mid-1990s as a singer, topping ...

Florence and the Machine Florence and the Machine (stylised as Florence + the Machine) are an English indie rock band formed in London in 2007 by lead vocalist Florence Welch, keyboardist Isabella Summers, guitarist Rob Ackroyd, drummer Christopher Lloyd Hayden and harp ...

Foals A foal is an equine up to one year old; this term is used mainly for horses, but can be used for donkeys. More specific terms are colt for a male foal and filly for a female foal, and are used until the horse is three or four. When the foal is ...

and Grooverider. Queen's Gardens – Live music and activities on Saturday and Sunday plus the two fountain bars. Humber Quays – Live pop acts on Saturday and the start of the Clipper 2009–10 Round the World Yacht Race on Sunday. Jazz in the Boatshed – Hull's hugely popular Jazz festival featured as part of the Freedom Festival celebrations on the Saturday and Sunday. Queen Victoria Square – A link-up with the BBC's Last Night of the Proms, live from the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday. Fruit Market – Thursday, Friday and Saturday saw French company lit up the streets with fire installations, to the sounds of DJs and artists, The Saturday night played host to a huge firework display, and as part of the Clipper Race boat departures, the Marina staged a Red Arrows flypast on the Sunday.

2010

The third annual Freedom Festival took place on the weekend of 10–11 September 2010 with a spectacular centrepiece display by French art group Plasticiens Volants consisting of a parade of enormous inflatable Monsters. The artists indicated that the piece was inspired by installations of large fibreglass toads placed around the city in celebration of the Larkin25 commemorations for renowned late Hull poet

Philip Larkin Philip Arthur Larkin (9 August 1922 – 2 December 1985) was an English poet, novelist, and librarian. His first book of poetry, '' The North Ship'', was published in 1945, followed by two novels, '' Jill'' (1946) and '' A Girl in Winter'' (194 ...

. The full programme of events for the festival in 2010 included artists, comedians and performers of international standing alongside musical acts such as 2010

Mercury Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual Music award, music prize awarded for the best album released by a musical act from the Music of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom or Music of Ireland, Ireland. It was cre ...

nominees

Alesha Dixon Alesha Anjanette Dixon (born 7 October 1978) is an English singer, rapper, dancer, television personality, and author. She rose to prominence in the early 2000s as a member of the R&B / UK Garage group Mis-Teeq, who had seven UK top 10 hits, ...

The Wanted The Wanted are a British-Irish boy band formed in 2009, and originally consisted of members Max George, Siva Kaneswaran, Jay McGuiness, Tom Parker, and Nathan Sykes. The group signed a worldwide contract to Universal Music, Island Reco ...

Fyfe Dangerfield Fyfe Antony Dangerfield Hutchins (born 7 July 1980) is an English musician and songwriter, best known as the founding member of the indie rock band Guillemots (band), Guillemots. Early life Born in Moseley, Birmingham, in 1980, he moved to Bro ...

Diana Vickers Diana Vickers (born 30 July 1991) is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She was a semi-finalist on ''The X Factor (British series 5), The X Factor'' in 2008, finishing in fourth place. Vickers signed a record deal with RCA Records and, ...

, Starman,

Roll Deep Roll Deep (formerly Roll Deep Entourage) are a British grime crew. They were founded in 2001 by Wiley shortly before the disbandment of UK garage crew Pay As U Go Cartel. The group have had two UK No. 1 singles, " Good Times" and "Green Lig ...

Skepta Joseph Olaitan Adenuga Jr. (born 19 September 1982), known professionally as Skepta, is a British grime MC, rapper, record producer and DJ. Alongside his younger brother Jme, he briefly joined Roll Deep before they became founding members of ...

and

McFly McFly are a British pop rock band formed in London in 2003. The band took their name from the ''Back to the Future (franchise), Back to the Future'' character Marty McFly. The band consists of Tom Fletcher (lead vocals, guitar, and piano), Da ...

Freedom Festival also showcased local bands and artists in the marina and Fruit Market districts.

2011

The fourth annual free Freedom Festival was extended from three to a four-day event and took place on Thursday 1 September, Friday 2 September and the day and evening of Saturday 3 September. This year the "big" pop stars of previous festivals like

and

were dropped in favour of more local acts, to widen the festival's appeal and owing to a reduction of funding of one third compared to 2010. About 75,000 people attended music, dance and comedy events in 2011. The line-up for 2011 included: King Charles, Fenech-Soler, Kyla La Grange, The Belle Collective, The Neat, Zagros Band, Ice House Project, Tribes, The Baghdaddies, White Pilots, Punjabi Akhara, Humba Rumba, Rory Motion, Sean Taylor, Jody McKenna, Roger Davies, Jess Graham Band, Camille O'Sullivan and The Hull Freedom Chorus. £100,000 in Arts Council funding helped to stage this year's festival.

2012

The fifth Freedom Festival, Hull's showpiece cultural event, took place between Friday, 7 September, and Sunday, 9 September with what was described as "a spectacular mix of events". It boasted "a broad range of programmes including street theatre, cabaret, dance, comedy and live music". The headline act was Martha Reeves and the Vandellas.

2013

The 2013 Freedom Festival took place between Friday 6 September and Sunday 8 September. According to reports over 80,000 people went to the three-day event, which this year was also in support of Hull's Bid to be named

UK City of Culture UK City of Culture is a designation given to a local area (specifically a city before 2025) in the United Kingdom for a period of one calendar year, during which the successful bidder hosts cultural festivities through culture-led regeneratio ...

2017 against three other cities. In June 2013, some of the details were revealed including that the event will open with a torchlight procession of over 600 local torchbearers moving throughout the city centre culminating in a rendition of

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

's 1963 "

I Have A Dream "I Have a Dream" is a Public speaking, public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist and Baptist minister Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. In the speech, Kin ...

" speech. Up and coming Manchester band

headlined along with Akala, local comedy star Lucy Beaumont, comedy trio

Pappy's Pappy's, originally known as Pappy's Fun Club, is a British three-man comedy act, composed of comedians Ben Clark, Matthew Crosby and Tom Parry. The sketch troupe previously performed shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, but now mostly tal ...

and French pioneers of modern street theatre, Transe Express. As well as plenty of local music on the Fruit Trade Music stage, acts such as The Talks, Felony and The Happy Endings also performed.

Craig Charles Craig Joseph Charles (born 11 July 1964) is an English actor, comedian and radio presenter. He is best known for his roles as Dave Lister in the science fiction sitcom ''Red Dwarf'' and Lloyd Mullaney in the soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (2 ...

recorded his

BBC Radio 6 The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current state ...

Soul and Funk Show from the event on the first night. Also Ziggy, an exhibition of never-seen-before

Ziggy Stardust Ziggy Stardust was a glam alter ego of musician David Bowie in the early 1970s. It may refer specifically to: * Ziggy Stardust (character) * ''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'', often shortened to ''Ziggy Stardust'', a ...

photographs and fan memorabilia from the 1970s, featuring Hull born

Mick Ronson Michael Ronson (26 May 1946 – 29 April 1993) was an English musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as the guitarist of the Spiders from Mars. He was a session musici ...

. It is also in support of Hull being a finalist in the

2017 list.

2014

The 2014 Freedom Festival took place between Friday 5 September and Sunday 7 September. The festival opened with 'The Long Walk to Freedom' Light Trail through Hull's Old Town featuring work by local artists inspired by

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

and the street theatre performers Spark. An estimated 115,000 people attended the Festival across its three days, with 57% from Hull, 31% from the East Riding and 12% outside of these areas

2015

The 2015 Freedom Festival took place between Friday 4 September and Sunday 6 September. The theme for the festival was 'Broadcast' with the opening night featuring 'Voices of Freedom', a choral performance over the River Hull. An estimated 114,200 people attended the festival.

2016

The 2016 Freedom Festival took place between Friday 2 September and Sunday 4 September.

2017

The 2017 Freedom Festival took place between Friday 1 September and Sunday 3 September and was part of the

Hull UK City of Culture 2017 Hull UK City of Culture 2017 was a designation given to the city of Kingston upon Hull, England, between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2020 by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The designation meant that Hull gained ac ...

offering. Former United Nations Secretary-General

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder a ...

was awarded the Wilberforce Medallion at the festival.

2018

The 2018 Freedom Festival took place between Friday 31 August and Sunday 2 September with around 130,000 people attending.

2019

The 2019 Freedom Festival was extended to a 5-day event and took place between 28 August and 1 September.

2020

The 2020 Freedom Festival planned to take place between Friday 2 September and Sunday 4 September, was cancelled because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in May 2020. Instead a Freedom at Home online event replaced the outdoor event.

2021

The 2021 festival was held from 20 August until 5 September 2021.

2022

In 2022 the festival ran for ten days starting on Friday 26 August. The festival's spectacle event, "Mo and the Red Ribbon", featuring a promenade of large-scale puppets was performed by the French company L’Homme Debout on Friday 2 September.

2023

The festival was held from 30 August to 3 September 2023, the line-up included Résiste, Tripotes La Compagnie and Zum-Zum Teatre.

2024

The festival was held from 28 August to 1 September.

References

External links

Official website
{{Kingston upon Hull, state=collapsed Culture in Kingston upon Hull Festivals in the East Riding of Yorkshire Tourist attractions in Kingston upon Hull