Our Work
Freedom Festival 2022
Welcome to our look-back and gallery page for Freedom Festival 2022
Welcome to our look-back and gallery page for Freedom Festival 2022
After the challenges of the prior 2 years, and the ones we’re still living through, Freedom Festival 2022 offered a 9-day programme of exceptional world-class performances, exhibitions and films, jam-packed full of extraordinary talent and unique ideas that will help us all to connect, to celebrate, laugh and to gasp in wonder again.
The reformist legacy of William Wilberforce shone through the programme as ever, with many works being made in collaboration with international artists and expert collaborators who work creatively with survivors of modern-day slavery and conflict to tell stories and raise up the voices of the many that need to be heard.
Audiences were welcomed into the city centre to experience human stories of change, resilience and empowerment woven through its streets, its people and its great estuary that sits alongside us. Hull is a city that cares, a city that knows how to have fun and how to embrace creativity as a force for good, and most importantly, a city with a mischievous glint in its eye.
Thanks to our funders, partners and supporters, we were able to deliver the majority of this huge programme for audiences to enjoy for free, and a festival which is accessible to all.
Freedom Festival 2022 was spread over two weekends, creating accumulatively 9-days’ worth of programme featuring theatre, dance, contemporary circus, sideshows, audio walks, music, art exhibitions and other memorable performances, alongside a digital schedule of films, podcasts and talks on-demand and online.
The first weekend offered a selection of phenomenal and thought-provoking exhibition and installation which then went on to run throughout the full 9-days, as well as hosting world-class and award-winning performances. This first weekend was created in mind of audiences who may prefer to avoid some of the hustle and bustle that comes with a popular city-based outdoor arts festival.
Off to an exciting start, as we moved through the week the programme grew, ramping up to a scale reminiscent of Freedom Festival 2017 - 2019. After a Friday of transformation and anticipation, the evening was filled with anticipation as a large-scale puppetry and promenade spectacle made its way through the city streets and we welcomed thousands of people to enjoy the festival for the finale weekend.
