Freedom Festival, Hull

L'Homme Debout at the 2018 festival

The Freedom Festival is an annual music and performance arts festival held in the city of Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is named in honour of the slave trade abolitionist, MP and son of Hull, William Wilberforce. The festival was established in 2007 to mark the 200th anniversary of Wilberforce's law, the Slave Trade Act 1807, to abolish the slave trade in the British Empire.[1]

The eclectic mix of entertainment catered for at Freedom welcomes a varied audience, experiencing music, dance, art, street theatre and entertainment from across Europe. During its history has welcomed acts such as Pixie Lott, JLS, The Saturdays, Martha Reeves and The Vandellas and The 1975, as well as many local bands and artists.

In 2013 the delivery of the festival was handed over to the Freedom Festival Arts Trust,[2] a charity whose core activity is to "engage and educate the public in the arts" centred around the annual Freedom Festival[3]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Report of the Trustees and Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st March 2021 for Freedom Festival Arts Trust". Charity Commission for England and Wales. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  3. ^ "Charity Overview, FREEDOM FESTIVAL ARTS TRUST – 1158439, Register of Charities – The Charity Commission". Charity Commission for England and Wales. Retrieved 29 August 2022.