Nine Liverpool festivals to receive Without Walls culture funding

Nine new Liverpool festivals are set to be given a share of a £100,000 culture funding pot to re-energise the city’s streets as we emerge from the pandemic.

The money is part of the Without Walls initiative launched by Culture Liverpool last summer to support creative businesses and individuals hit by Covid-19.

Then, almost 50 organisations and freelance artists were supported by a £200,000 fund.

And now another nine – all festival events - are benefiting from a further £100,000 injection of cash which was announced earlier this summer.

The latest successful applicants are: Liverpool Theatre Festival, Jamaica Street Carnival, Rebel Soul Enterprises, Paperwork Theatre, LUMA Creations (One Latin Culture), Naissance Spark CIC, The Kazimier and Make CIC, Cinema Nation CIC, and Zest Event Management.

And the festival projects include La FERIA – a celebration of Latin culture; a three-day public art festival and street theatre in October; a free Halloween Carnival in Liverpool’s Ten Streets; a Follow the White Rabbit Fire Street Theatre Festival which will coincide with Bonfire Night, and, in December, the appearance of a larger-than-life advent calendar in Williamson Square.

Franscisco Carrasco, creative director and chief executive of LUMA Creations, said: “It’s so important support is being made available for events like La FERIA after such a long period when it’s been difficult to do anything for a real live audience.

“People need to be able to be outside and enjoy outdoor performances.”

And Aaron Fontenot and Saad Shaffi, organisers of August’s Jamaica Street Carnival, added: “Putting on a new event at any time is difficult, and the pandemic has made planning even more difficult so this financial support from Culture Liverpool is vital.

“We’re honoured to be presenting the Jamaica Street Carnival Party, a modern-day carnival celebration of Liverpool’s cultural heritage.”

Top: Fire festival. Photo by Nick Mizen. Courtesy of Zest Event Management