Refugee Festival Scotland has officially opened with organisers using the event to promote solidarity, tolerance and understanding in the face of growing anti-refugee rhetoric and anti-immigrant protests.
The nine-day festival, organised by Scottish Refugee Council, began on Friday 12th June and will run until 21st June, leading up to World Refugee Day on 20th June. This year’s programme features more than 150 events across Scotland celebrating art, culture, music, food, film, language, sport and community.
Festival organisers say the event provides an opportunity to highlight the contributions refugees and New Scots make to communities across the country while encouraging people to come together through shared experiences and creativity.
This year’s festival involves artists and performers connected to 78 countries, with activities taking place from Lewis to Lanarkshire and from Dumfries to Dundee. The majority of events are free to attend.
Scottish Refugee Council Chief Executive Sabir Zazai said: “Refugee Festival Scotland is an antidote to hate, and that message of hope could not have come at a better time. For the next nine days communities across Scotland will be coming together to celebrate cultural richness, recognise shared humanity, and build understanding. This festival and the thousands of people who take part and attend are making a statement: everyone in Scotland deserves to be safe. We will continue to stand for solidarity and are proud to be able to bring people together through art.”
The festival opened at the Hidden Gardens at Glasgow’s Tramway with a new art installation by Grace Browne called All Water Is Connected, exploring themes of belonging through links between Nigerian traditions and Scottish landscapes.
Other highlights include an outdoor screening of Everybody to Kenmure Street in Glasgow, a concert featuring Palestinian singer Nai Barghouti and the RSNO, and Listening for Home, a multidisciplinary performance by Maimouna Ly at Edinburgh’s Scottish Storytelling Centre.
Refugee Festival Scotland Manager Mónica Laiseca said: “At the heart of Refugee Festival Scotland is a generosity of spirit, an openness and sense of connection. We want everyone to experience those feelings of warmth, welcome and celebration over the coming days.”
The festival takes place during the 75th anniversary year of the UN Refugee Convention and is coordinated by Scottish Refugee Council.
Headline photo: Pictured L-R: Harpist Yeva Panchenko, artist Grace Browne and Refugee Festival Scotland co-ordinator Huss Al-Chokhdar