Issue 89 / June 2018

FESTIVAL
CULTURES
Pulling on specific strands of our shared heritage, festivals such as Positive Vibration and Liverpool Arab
Arts Festival give us the opportunity to focus on the finer details of our city’s rich cultural tapestry.
Music festivals have long been considered inclusive
and forward-thinking spaces. For a few days every
summer, vast amounts of people head to the fields
and join a utopian microcosm of society where
everyone loves everyone else. The potential for mass political
reach has been embraced by politicians such as Jeremy Corbyn,
who delivered a speech on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury
2017 to tens of thousands of people. For all their talk about
escapism, it seems festivals may be the perfect place to envisage
real world change. That said, with overpriced tickets and
incessant advertising, many of the big UK music festivals seem to
represent the epitome of capitalism. How can festivals champion
inclusivity if they come with a £200 price tag?
So into the market jumped metropolitan day festivals,
and the benefits are immediately obvious. For starters, city
festivals cost much less to attend; many are free, travel costs
are minimised and the shorter length means it’s possible to
eat and sleep at home. Most city festivals are family-friendly
and accessible for disabled people, as cities already have the
appropriate infrastructure in place. And some are particularly
focused on celebrating culture and diversity. I sat down with Anne
Thwaite, the director of LIVERPOOL ARAB ARTS FESTIVAL
(LAAF) and Rory Taylor, Collen Chandler and Mark Ross of
POSITIVE VIBRATION Festival Of Reggae to find out more about
how their festivals contribute to the multicultural fabric of this city.
By bringing a wide range of communities together to learn about
and enjoy a specific culture, both LAAF and Positive Vibration put
inclusivity into practice.
Founded in 1998, and with its first festival in 2002, Liverpool
Arab Arts Festival can rightly look back on 20 successful years of
showcasing this city’s Arab culture. And the pace shows no sign of
slowing. The festival, which is a joint venture by Liverpool Arabic
Centre and The Bluecoat, is currently preparing for its biggest
year yet after receiving a grant from Liverpool City Council (as part
of a programme to enhance the city’s festival image in the 10th
anniversary year since the 2008 Capital Of Culture). Yet, LAAF
remains the only annual festival of its kind in the UK. So, what is
it about Liverpool that makes it the perfect base? Anne points to
a long-standing Arab community in the city: “That was the whole
purpose of pushing forward with the festival – to ensure that Arab
communities recognised their value in the city and their contribution
to its culture and diversity. But we also wanted the wider
communities to understand Liverpool’s Arab community more.”
Giving Arabic musicians a platform in the UK is at the heart
of LAAF’s ethos. Every year, LAAF presents an international
line-up that spans genres and countries, bringing musicians from
across the Arab world to Liverpool. Internationally renowned
singer-songwriter and the ‘voice of the Tunisian revolution’, EMEL
MATHLOUTHI, will open this year’s festival at Invisible Wind
“We don’t just want
to be a festival
that lands once
a year in the city.
We want to build a
community”
Factory. Mathlouthi’s Kelmti Horra (My Word Is Free) became the
unofficial anthem of the Arab Spring in 2007, and earned her the
chance to sing at the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. Londonbased
47SOUL, who have already performed in Liverpool this year,
will also play the opening weekend alongside TOOTARD. Hailing
from Jordan and Palestine, 47Soul perform in both English and
Arabic and specialise in shamstep, which is a fusion of electronic
hip hop and dabke (traditional Palestinian street music and
dance). They offer an authentic insight into Arabic youth culture as
political, modern and exciting, which is a wildly different story to
that perpetuated by the dominant media.
Positive Vibration is a much newer festival but has already
made its mark on the city. The celebration of reggae and Jamaican
culture won Best New Festival at the UK Festival Awards in 2016,
and attracts visitors from all over the world. In part, this success
is down to the calibre of acts they offer: this year’s headliners
include MUNGO’S HI FI and Godfather of Dub LEE ‘SCRATCH’
PERRY. But, like LAAF, the team behind Positive Vibration have
worked hard to ensure that a sense of community runs through
the heart of the festival. Mark points towards the extra events and
socials that they run throughout the year. “We don’t just want to
be a festival that lands once a year in the city. We want to build
a community and we want people to feel that they’re part of that
community.”
For both Anne and the team behind Positive Vibration,
community means involving the whole family. Central to LAAF’s
programme is the Family Day in Sefton Park, which Anne describes
as “the bedrock of inclusiveness and diversity”. For Rory, Collen
and Mark, welcoming families to the festival is about creating that
next generation of reggae lovers. Mark claims that “the second
you get the kids involved and interested in what’s going on, then
it makes them want to come again next year. That builds up our
community in a sense that we’ve got a younger generation taking
an interest”. Rory highlights the wide variety of people that attend
the festival, from young kids to old reggae super fans: “That made
us think that this is a family event: reggae is for everyone.”
Positive Vibration prides itself on celebrating all aspects of
Jamaican culture, not just music. That’s perhaps why the festival
is so successful: a ticket buys entry into The Art Of Reggae
exhibition, a Q&A, the Jamdown market and numerous workshops.
Mark claims that “the culture is the most important thing,
beyond the fact that it’s a music festival and an arts festival. The
celebration of culture is massively important”. The Reggae Q&A is
the perfect example of how Positive Vibration seeks to recognise
all aspects of Caribbean culture. This year, BLACKER DREAD,
CARROLL THOMPSON, DR LEZ HENRY and JOHN ROBB will sit
on the panel and discuss how reggae has impacted British society.
Collen describes the event as a welcome “intellectual discussion, in
which we talk about racism in Britain and don’t shy away from the
reality”. Mark agrees that Positive Vibration “has to be more than
just a music festival. We want to make an impact and give people
an education as much as anything.”
Mark, Rory and Collen all seem conscious that they have a
responsibility to the Caribbean community in Liverpool when
representing and celebrating their culture. Collen acknowledges
that “there’s been exploitation before, where people dilute and
exploit a culture.” Rory agrees: “We want to work with people who
are Jamaican or of Jamaican descent to ensure that what we’re
doing is credible and genuine.” Anne feels a similar responsibility
towards the Arab community in Liverpool and notes that LAAF is
an important antithesis to the negative media coverage of Arabic
culture: “It’s really so important that Arabs are recognised beyond
the negative media stories and constant reporting in the press.
LAAF gives people an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding
of Arab culture, that it isn’t all political, it isn’t all about conflicts in
the Middle East; it’s about the human side.”
It is festivals such as these that show why, 10 years on,
Liverpool is still a capital of culture. The teams behind LAAF and
Positive Vibration have a deep respect for the cultures they are
celebrating and this has an impact on the wide variety of people
who attend their festivals. Cultural festivals are certainly a brilliant
and fun way of encouraging integration within communities. And
with their unique, international line-ups, I’ll be tempted to give up
my wellies and swap the big music festivals for their equally as
exciting younger siblings. !
Words: Maya Jones / @mmayajones
Photography: Glyn Akroyd and Mark McNulty
Positive Vibration takes place in the Baltic Triangle on 8th and
9th June. Full details can be found at posvibesfest.com.
Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival runs between 6th and 18th July.
Full details can be found at arabartsfest.com.
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