Liverpool is widely recognised as one of the best cities in the UK to visit. We bring you the City Lodger’s guide to Liverpool’s best summer festivals.
Think of Liverpool and two things instantly spring to mind: football and the Beatles. But to pigeonhole it in such a narrow manner is to do this fabulous city an injustice. Liverpool is a buzzing, historic, multicultural collection of art, music and people.
Anyone who visits the city will experience it’s rich culture, fascinating libraries, legendary nightlife, impressive maritime history, and warm, friendly people. They also know that the food in Liverpool is as diverse as it is multicultural. And it is a well known fact that throughout the year Liverpool has an amazing range of festivals celebrating everything from the River Mersey to African and Caribbean music and culture.
The Summer of Love
This year many of the festivals around the city are organised under the ’50 Summers of Love’ banner, celebrating half a century of summer festival fun from 1967 to 2017, so here are the hot dates for summer 2017…
June
May/June: Physical Fest
Physical Fest is a unique international festival of physical theatre brought to you by Liverpool’s Tmesis Theatre. Featuring renowned local, national and international artists, the festival includes workshops, industry events and street theatre.
17-18 June: Africa Oyé
Africa Oyé is the unmissable annual free celebration of African and Caribbean music and culture, this year celebrating its 25th anniversary. Held in the beautiful surroundings of Sefton Park, the festival attracts over 50,000 people from all over the world to witness one of the country’s most vibrant events in the festival calendar.
24-25 June: Mersey River Festival
Liverpool gathers to celebrate its iconic waterway at the Mersey River Festival. The city’s waterfront provides a suitably impressive backdrop for the free music and entertainment.
July
7-8 July: Liverpool Arab Arts Festival
The UK’s biggest annual celebration of Arab arts and culture, Liverpool Arab Arts Festival has a programme of over 35 events, including visual art, music, dance, film, theatre and literature at venues across the city. This year’s festival features live performances at the World Museum and a spectacular finale at Sefton Park Palm House.
7-9 July: British Style Collective
This inaugural festival of fashion promises to be an missable event in the style calendar. Featuring trend-led catwalks, pop-up stores, exclusive Q&As, panel discussions and music performances at venues across the city, visitors will get to see the hottest looks on the high-street before they hit the shops.
13-14 July: Young DaDaFest
Young DaDaFest celebrates the talents of young disabled and deaf performers from across Merseyside and beyond at venues across the city.
13-24 July: Brouhaha
Innovative global festival Brouhaha features an eclectic range of art forms at a variety of locations. For 2017 the festival, entitled ‘Many Voices One Song’ (Rivers of Love), includes free indoor and outdoor arts events, carnival parades, local and international performances and emerging artist events.
20-23 July: Liverpool International Music Festival
For 2017, the fifth LIMF at Sefton Park and Palm House promises the best line-up to date under the theme ‘Remember The Times’, which showcases pivotal moments in various musical genres such as hip-hop, house and pop. LIMF is a magnet for music fans around the city and beyond.
29-30 July: Liverpool Pride
Liverpool Pride, the city’s annual celebration of all things LGBT, takes place across the city in a dazzling spectacle of colour, music and entertainment.
August
5 August: Knowsley Feelgood Festival
This free event under the ’50 Summers of Love’ banner aims to help improve health and wellbeing through a range of activities, including hoola hooping, storytelling, complementary therapies, live music, and interactive health stalls.
20 August: Clipper Round the World Yacht Race
The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is due to set sail from the city’s Albert Dock, returning eleven months later. Twelve 70-foot racing yachts manned by 700 amateur crew, representing over 40 nationalities from all walks of life, make this the biggest ocean race to circumnavigate the planet.
September
2-3 September: Fusion Festival
Fusion Festival is returning to Otterspool Promenade to welcome chart-topping stars and top DJs. This year’s line-up is yet to be released.
15 September – 1 October: The Liverpool Comedy Festival
In a city famed for its sense of humour, The Liverpool Comedy Festival is a must-see event. Catch the biggest names in comedy alongside new and up-and-coming artists from the world at over 20 venues across the city.
October
Throughout October: On The Verge
Biennial festival On the Verge takes performance and art out of its usual settings, instead presenting work in unexpected spaces such as shop windows, gardens, disused buildings, phone boxes, public transport and warehouses.
19-29 October: Liverpool Irish Festival
With a large Irish population, the Liverpool Irish Festival celebrates Irish culture through performance, art and poetry across the city.
2018
14 July 2018 – 28 October 2018: Liverpool Biennial
Liverpool Biennial is the UK’s premier festival of contemporary art. Taking place across the city in public spaces, unused buildings, galleries and online.
The last Biennial in 2016 saw Sir Peter Blake commissioned to create the Everybody Razzle Dazzle design for the Mersey Ferry. Since its first festival in 1998, Liverpool Biennial has commissioned over 305 new artworks and presented work by over 444 artists from around the globe.
City Lodgers
Located a short distance away from Liverpool’s vibrant city centre, Agnes Jones House has a number of great bars and restaurants in close proximity as well as being walking distance from the main festival locations.
Agnes Jones House is an ideal place to settle in to explore Liverpool in all it’s glory. Take a trip to Liverpool ONE to purchase your festival wear, or grab some food from the fabulous array of multicultural options available on Bold Street.
Liverpool is a vibrant city full of history, culture, fun and entertainment. City Lodgers offer you the ideal base to take in all that the city has to offer, so call the booking team today 0333 344 3785.
