Edinburgh Deaf Festival Continues With Cabaret, Family Shows and More

The second weekend of entertainment is about to get underway at the fifth annual Edinburgh Deaf Festival with an abundance of shows for adults and children.

Among the family-friendly events, which are ideal for hearing as well as deaf audiences, are:

• The Librarians: Step into a world where books burst into life! Meet the wonderfully quirky Miss Book and Mr Page as they discover the adventures hidden in their library of old books. A celebration of everyone's stories!
• Lights & Lanterns: Step inside our emporium of light and shadow, where history flickers to life and you become part of the spectacle. Try your hand at a 130-year-old magic lantern, create your own hand painted glass slide, and transform into a Victorian projectionist. A playful, physical experience where past and present collide, and where light becomes language.

For adults there is:

• A Night in Sign: A vibrant BSL-led cabaret event. Hosted by Nadeem Islam and featuring performances from acclaimed deaf artist Chris Fonseca alongside some of the UK's most exciting Deaf creatives.
• Pray for Me: Sarah Adedeji's raw, intimate and visually striking blend of poetry, movement, dance and live music (by ISRA3L). A work in development it explores the barriers, prejudice and cultural assumptions faced by a young black woman from London being raised by a highly religious Nigerian family.

And these are just some of the highlights. From Friday to the end of the 10-day festival on Sunday there will be around three dozen events and activities. There is Deaf Karaoke, a deaf makers' market, a Park Run, yoga, museum tour, boxing, a zoo tour, storytelling workshop and plenty more. There is also an exhibition of work by deaf artists Trudi Collier, Viktoriya Rudenko and Rubbena Aurangzeb-Tariq.

EDF is a celebration of deaf culture and is organised by Deaf Action (the world's oldest deaf charity and deaf-led organisation which dates back 190 years to 1835).

ABOUT DEAF ACTION

Deaf Action is a deaf led charity based in Edinburgh, supporting people in Scotland and the South of England.

Founded in 1835 it is the world's oldest deaf charity and the first formally constituted deaf organisation.

It exists to support the diversity of deaf people, including deaf users of British Sign Language (BSL), and those who are deafened, deafblind or hard of hearing.

Deaf Action's work is geared towards empowering all deaf people to achieve their potential and fully participate in society, with equality of rights, access and opportunity.

Almost half of the staff are deaf, and many more have grown up with deaf parents or siblings. Deaf Action truly understand the challenges deaf people face, and believes that its collective experience allows it to honestly position itself as having the expertise to unlock deaf people's potential.

ABOUT CREATIVE SCOTLAND

Creative Scotland is the public body that supports culture and creativity across all parts of Scotland, distributing funding provided by the Scottish Government and The National Lottery. Further information at creativescotland.com. Follow Creative Scotland on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

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