Freedom Festival: Hull arts festival taken to Bridlington for first time - BBC

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By Pritti Mistry

BBC News

A major arts festival is being extended outside of Hull with performances being staged in Bridlington for the first time in its 16-year history.

The Freedom Festival started in 2007 to celebrate Hull's links with anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce.

About 100,000 people are expected to attend over five days from next week.

Artistic Director Mikey Martins said it was important for the event to "evolve" as up to 30% of spectators were coming from the wider East Yorkshire region.

The festival, which begins on 30 August, offers a programme of ticketed and free street theatre, art and music at indoor and outdoor locations.

This year organisers are staging, for the first time, four physical circus and dance performances in Bridlington on 31 August as part of its 'Freedom on Tour' project.

"It's another way of trying to find those new audiences," Mr Martins said.

"We know we have a lot of audiences that come from the East Riding already, looking at our data and evaluation... [and] we might find some new audiences we never met before."

Mr Martins said the new venture in Bridlington was a "test" but he hoped to continue if successful.

"I would be very happy if 1,000 people engaged with that program. I think in year one that'd be a great success."

More than 120 performances are being put on across the festival at various locations.

This year's line-up includes artists such as Gorilla Circus, comedy duo Otto & Astrid and Dutch music theatre group Via Berlin, as well as an exhibition on women who have survived war by The Freedom Women Collective.

The festival was first established to mark the 200th anniversary of the prohibition of the slave trade in the British Empire.

Originally a two-day event it was extended to five-days in 2019. Coronavirus restrictions saw the 2020 event cancelled and replaced with an online event.

Last year the festival saw an extended nine-day run.

Mr Martins said due to "financial challenges" the festival had to be cut down to five days this year.

Two men with painted faces playing trumpets

He said the festival had made a "massive impact" on the local economy every year with up to £4m being generated before the pandemic, but this had dropped down to £2m post-Covid.

"Significant amounts of money are spent in the city during the festival, and other events like ours."

The Freedom Festival runs until 3 September 2023.