Liverpool Arab Arts Festival Returns in July
Liverpool Arab Arts Festival takes place from 11th to 20th July 2025 across Liverpool venues.
By: Stephi Wild May. 23, 2025
Liverpool Arab Arts Festival (LAAF), the longest running annual festival of Arab arts and culture in the UK, will return for its 23rd year this July. LAAF exists to support and champion creatives from across the Arab region and its diaspora, in the belief that art and creativity have the power to express a shared humanity.
The festival also celebrates Liverpool’s unique identity; a city, with a global community and brimming with artistry, that looks outwards across the world and welcomes and accepts all who arrive within it.
Two theatre shows have already been announced for this year's festival.
Penguin
LAAF will welcome Penguin to the Unity Theatre, Liverpool on 11th July for the opening day of this year’s festival.
Full of humour and beauty, Hamzeh Al Hussien’s extraordinary story takes you on a personal tour of the places he knows best. His village in the Syrian mountains, Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan, Gateshead (UK) and inside his mind: a place full of music, dancing, fantasies and marbles.
Hamzeh invites the audience to be his childhood friends, to hold up the moon to light his way, and into his dreams, brushing the dust from his clothes...and taking the stage.
Good Chance presents A Grain of Sand حبة رمل
By Elias Matar
Commissioned by London Palestine Film Festival
Supported by Liverpool Arab Arts Festival
Adapted from A Million Kites: Testimonies and Poems from the Children of Gaza by Leila Boukarim and Asaf Luzon
Renad, a young Gazan girl, embarks on a dangerous journey. Carrying only the echoes of her grandmother’s tales and the spark of her own imagination, she searches for her family and the ‘Anqaa’ – the mythical Palestinian Phoenix.
A Grain of Sand is a one-woman show that takes an intimate look at war through the eyes of a child, blending Palestinian folklore with real-life testimonies from children in contemporary Gaza. Renad’s story is one of resilience, hope and the right of children to be children. The show will be performed at the Unity Theatre on Friday 18th July.
This year’s festival theme is Nostalgia, which will be explored through a diverse range of disciplines, including music, theatre and performance, visual art, spoken word, literature and film.
A statement from festival organisers said: "Through our platform, LAAF celebrate the courage of Arab artists who document, challenge, and interpret change. Their voices are crucial. This year, we proudly present powerful works from across the Arab world including Palestine, Syria, Yemen, Egypt and many others. Giving space to stories that are often silenced, and emotions too deep for words, yet expressed through art. We also invite you to experience Arab cultures in all its richness with music, poetry, performance, and the unforgettable taste of our cuisine."
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