BlackFest is a grassroots Black Arts festival piloted and founded in 2018. The annual combined arts festival platforms, empowers and develops work by Black artists across community spaces and established venues running at the end of September. The programme includes music, theatre, film, visual arts spoken word and poetry across community spaces and established venues. The Festival answers a crucial need in the city’s cultural offering, celebrating Black arts and bridging the gap between institutions and the marginalised communities they represent. BlackFest encompasses active conversations and collaborations breaking status quo with artists, communities and venues.
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 being Black and British in the UK today.
BlackFest is committed to Black Arts, programming and education, collaborating with artists, organisations and the community to encourage the creation, appreciation and access to the arts. We seek to nurture a vibrant arts community, foster artistic excellence, and bring people together for powerful shared experiences that inspire a social change in the ecology of in arts in Liverpool.
BlackFest aim to educate, empower and improve equality in the arts. Ensuring we do this with integrity, resilience and become a collective voice for change.
Equality – Use arts as a tool enhancing wellbeing, equality, diversity and inclusion in the city’s arts institutions and community spaces through representation and visibility.
Empower – Celebrate Black arts and experiences from authentic lenses through creativity and community participation. Reflecting the city’s growing multicultural communities and artists providing an inclusive platform showcasing their talents.
Educate – Fostering artistic development of emerging and aspiring regional artists. Developing communities and providing quality, diverse opportunities, shared artistic experiences for all, inspiring participation in the creation, understanding, and access to the arts.