By Angie Lemon
Published June 25, 2023
UK’s longest running annual Arab Arts Festival, Liverpool Arab Arts Festival (LAAF), will light up the city with a series of music concerts, theatrical performances, literature and visual art forms in a variety of locations July 6 – 16, 2023.
Stretching from the iconic Liverpool Philharmonic Music Room to Sefton Park Palm House, LAAF is celebrating 25 years since it was founded in 1998.
LAAF 2023 has made a perfect choice of venue for this year’s series of headline yet intimate ticketed, world music concerts. The Liverpool Philharmonic Music Room, proudly connected to Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall – the seat of the renowned Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra – opens its doors on Friday July 7th as critically acclaimed Somali-British singer Aar Maanta takes to the stage, supported by British-Egyptian rising star singer, Nxdia.
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On July 14, the award-winning qanun star Maya Youssef takes to the stage.
UK- based Syrian ‘queen of the qanun,’ she is a maestro of this 78-stringed Middle Eastern plucked zither. Maya’s intense and thoughtful music is rooted in the Arabic classical tradition but forges pathways into jazz, western classical and Latin styles.
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The LAAF culminates with a free-entry, unticketed Family Day on Sunday, July 16 at Sefton Park Palm House, an iconic feature of Liverpool City’s parks. An attractive, dome-shaped Victorian palm house with lush flora, it is now a charity, staging music and dance events. Storytelling, family-friendly activities, stalls, workshops, talks and authentic Arabic food will all be a feature of the programme. The public will enjoy special world music performances by master of the Iraqi oud and Founder/Director of The Taqasim Music School in London, Ahmed Mukhtar. Also performing will be the Scottish- Egyptian, classical-crossover duo, The Ayoub Sisters, who are, in the words of Egyptian Streets “One of the top 15 most inspiring artists of the decade” and will not fail to dazzle the audience.
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Liverpool Arab Arts Festival takes its proud place as the longest running annual Arab arts festival in the UK. An Arts Council England Portfolio Organisation, it takes a proud part in the 2023-26 Investment Programme: the LAAF is supported by Liverpool City Council’s Culture Liverpool through its Culture & Arts Investment Programme.
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“Storytelling has a strong tradition in Arab culture. ‘Hakawati’ means storyteller and describes a person who can draw people in with their tale. In cultures of the Middle East the hakawati, or storyteller, once played a central role in society. They drew large crowds, told cultured tales, folklore. As we celebrate 25 years since the festival was founded, we invite Arab artists and those of Arab heritage to explore how their stories have shaped them, how they are crafting their own stories through song, theatre, dance, performance, literature and visual art, and how it relates to modern Arab identity,” Afrah Qassim, Chair of LAAF, says.
Liverpool Arab Arts Festival provides a platform that educates, challenges and engages communities in Arab arts, culture and heritage across the UK and internationally.
