Freedom Festival

What we're up to

26th November 2020

Digital Democracies: Call Out for Immersive Audio Artworks

Pioneering public art project invites applications for work that respond to the theme of Connections.

24th November 2020

Freedom Festival 2020: How we brought the festival to your home

Over four days in September, an audience of 465,000* people across the world experienced Hull’s award-winning international Freedom Festival from afar.

15th October 2020

BOUND Show streams on World Anti Slavery Day

Sunday 18 October marks World Anti Slavery Day. A time to remember the victims.

Latest from Twitter

@FreedomFestHull

ARTIST CALL-OUT: #DigitalDemocracies are inviting applications for Immersive / Location-based audio artworks. The successful project will receive £6k budget and support from @Lighthouse_BTN @FreedomFestHull @TS_Studios Full details: https://t.co/dzrBLM5OOU #OutdoorArts

2nd December 2020

@FreedomFestHull

Today marks International Day for the #AbolitionofSlavery. As the proud home of key abolitionist #WilliamWilberforce, Hull stands firm against all forms of discrimination. Wilberforce House is currently closed & we look forward to welcoming you back when it’s safe to do so. https://t.co/xsLUl76w1I

2nd December 2020

We are an international gateway to exceptional artists and makers, combining epic to intimate moments in public spaces where artists and audiences meet.

Producers of Hull's Freedom Festival, an international arts festival, we believe artists can change the narrative. With a distinctive creative voice, we enrich our society, giving artistic expression to themes of democracy, identity, human rights and freedom.

We are proud to be one of Arts Council England's National Portfolio Organisations, regarded as a leader in the field of outdoor arts and are part of the artistic directorate of The Without Walls Network and one of only three UK partners of the Europe-wide IN SITU Network. We work in partnership because nothing great is achieved in isolation.

More than just a festival, if you would like to be kept updated on what we're up to all year round, sign up to our newsletter at the top of this page.

"Hull’s Freedom Festival, the annual boundary-busting, cross-artform event which this year is taking art and provocation directly into people’s homes across the world." Lyn Gardner, Associate Editor The Stage.

Core projects

Digital Democracies

Digital Democracies is a national project exploring the intersection of technology and public space. The project brings together partners from across the UK – civic, cultural, HE and tech sectors with artists to explore new experiences in our shared public social spaces – real world and online- where we live, work, visit and play.

Global Streets

We’re proud to be a commissioning partner of Global Streets, a national programme that is inspiring local change through unforgettable international outdoor arts experiences coupled with targeted engagement activities.

Volunteering

Freedom Festival would not be possible without the 130 incredible volunteers who give their time every summer to welcome artists and visitors to the festival and to the city.

Young Reporters Club

For 2019 we saw the eyes of the festival through our first ever Young Reporters, as part of an exciting new partnership with Ron Dearing UTC.

In Situ

We are proud to be one of three UK representatives of the IN SITU network, collaborating with 23 other European programmers to nurture artist development and support artists to develop new forms of art in public space.