A disability arts festival will arrive in Croydon, bringing with it stand up, performance and dance, much of which is free.
Championing Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent artists, Liberty festival will bring the entertainment and art to the 2023 London Borough of Culture this September.
Running from Friday, September 1 to Sunday, September 3, disability arts festival Liberty’s line-up includes comedy, dance, immersive theatre, poetry, film and exhibitions. There’s even juggling and inclusive fitness classes.
Programme highlights include Liberty Live Comedy Night which features a string of stand-ups including Francesca Martinez, Aaron Simmonds, Steve Day and Variety D.
Noise, by Nua Dance, is an immersive dance performance, while artist Rachel Gadsden and sound designer Freddie Meyers premiere their live art and sound performance, TransHuman Embodiment and Beyond.
The arts festival will also host accessible movement workshops, with the Inclusive High Intensity Interval workout led by movement and mind coach Leroy Elevates and Deaf personal trainer India Morse from Jo Wicks’ The Body Coach App.
Poet, performer and theatre maker Ellen Renton’s exhibition If You’ve Seen It You Haven’t Seen It, questions how our eyes and minds often “sit at odds with each other”.
Touretteshero puts on Journey to a Better World which is an immersive experience inviting people to explore that the post-pandemic world should look like.
Taking place across Fairfield Halls and surrounding areas, the festival has access and inclusivity embedded throughout; audiences can move about and make noise, as well as leave and re-enter if required.
There’s also the family-friendly Liberty Garden Party, which pops up in Queen’s Gardens and features a variety of performers including Def Motion, Moxie Brawl, Savvy Theatre Company, Stopgap Dance Company and Tit for Tat.
Alongside the acts, refreshments will be provided by Dialogue Hub’s Mobile BSL Dialogue Café – Britain’s first British Sign Language café, which employs Dead and Hard of Hearing baristas so customers have to sign their orders.
There’s also a finale show that features Candoco Dance Company, Ellen Renton, Inner Vision Orchestra and Rachel Gadsden.
More show will be announced closer to festival dates.
The event is mainly free, with ticketed and unticketed events. To book tickets and for more information, visit culturecroydon.com.
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