Refugee Festival Scotland comes to Edinburgh

Whatever the weather, people in Edinburgh can expect a warm welcome at Refugee Festival Scotland – and a packed programme of events showcasing refugee arts and culture.

Article Source: Refugee Festival Scotland
Last Updated: 27 May 2021 12:11

This year’s festival runs from 14 June - 20 June. From live music and dance to online art shows, film screenings, gaming marathons and family-friendly picnics, the festival has something for everyone.

The line-up, which showcases refugee arts and culture, aims to bring people from different backgrounds and cultures together to meet, mix and get to know each other better.

This year’s festival focuses on helping communities in Edinburgh, and across Scotland to reconnect and build bonds of friendship after months kept apart by the pandemic.

Bas Alden, who is originally from Palestine and now lives in Edinburgh, is one of the organisers behind this year’s festival.

He said: “Each year, we evolve and adapt to changes and use new tools to support and bring people together. As a result of Covid-19, this year’s festival, which runs from 14-20 June, will be different. Many events will be held online to make them accessible to all – and to keep you safe!

“Refugee Festival Scotland connects New Scots with communities across Scotland. The festival is a place where the sky is the limit when it comes to dreams and ideas. It is a safe and open space for people to campaign for change and reach out to others in friendship and support.”

The festival celebrates the many ways refugees contribute to Scotland’s cultural life by showcasing the food and drink, music and dance, language and art that people bring with them when they begin new lives in Scotland.

Refugee Festival Scotland is produced by Scottish Refugee Council. Details of the 2021 festival programme are now online: www.refugeefestivalscotland.co.uk

Edinburgh highlights

Dance

New Beginnings
Anahat Theatre’s New Beginnings is a playful dance theatre work in progress celebrating the point in time and space when something starts afresh.
The show mixes dance, theatre and poetry and has autobiographical elements.
Created and performed by Mexican-born, Edinburgh-based artist Andrea Cabrera Luna (actor/director). Original sound composition Ceylan Hay.

Friday 18 June 2021, 19:00, online event
Free but ticketed

PAST-Inuous
An interactive video dance installation created through an international digital collaboration with 11 Palestinian dancers – including Edinburgh-Based, Farah Saleh – and video artist Lucas Kao.

The work considers the bodies of the eleven artists – most of whom are third-generation refugees, based in Edinburgh, Berlin, Gaza and Nablus – as living archives. It attempts to dig into these archives to find connections between the artists’ daily gestures of the present, and the gestures of their expelled families in the past.

Friday 18 June, all day, online event
Free

Music and Podcasts

The Sounds of Displacement: Edinburgh Jewish Cultural Centre
A talk by Phil Alexander, with live music from world-renowned Yiddish singer Sasha Lurje. In this session, Phil will take us through some of the many ways that music was a part of post-Holocaust displaced refugee life. We will listen to archive materials, discover more about the ensembles and anthologies that were created out of Displaced Persons camp life, and explore the importance of music under these difficult circumstances.

Date: Thursday 17 June 2021, 19:30
£5 (free to those with limited means)

Much Language Such Talk Podcast Special with Debora Kayembe
Bilingualism Matters is releasing a special episode of the Much Language Such Talk Podcast as part of Scottish Refugee Festival. Tune in for a fascinating interview with Debora Kayembe about her work as a human rights lawyer, translator and activist, and her experiences arriving in the UK as a refugee. In 2016, Ms Kayembe became the first African woman to join the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and in February 2021, she became the third woman, the first black woman and the first African immigrant to be named rector of the University of Edinburgh.

Date:Thursday 17 June, 12.00
Free

Community events

The Welcoming Refugee Festival Special
An online gathering bringing together members of the local Syrian community and their neighbours for an uplifting evening of live music, storytelling, art and discussion.
Thursday 17 June, 5pm
Free

Community Picnic With Greening Our Street
Greening Our Street are hosting a family-friendly picnic at their community garden near the tennis courts on the Meadows. Bring your own food and come prepared for games and guided tours of the garden.

Sunday, 20 June at 12 noon
Free

Gaming Against the Hostile Environment
Using gaming as a platform for good, Gaming Against the Hostile Environment aims to raise awareness about the hostile environment policies which leave thousands of people who came to the UK as asylum seekers or refugees in vulnerable, precarious and often inhumane situations.

As part of Refugee Festival Scotland, they’re setting up the gear for a gaming marathon to raise funds for four grassroots organisations that support refugees, including Intercultural Youth Scotland in Edinburgh. All gamers are also invited to join for a celebration stream on World Refugee Day – time and Game to be confirmed.

Sunday 20 June, time (tbc)
Free

Details of all events can be found at refugeefestivalscotland.co.uk

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