Liverpool unveils powerful programme for Slavery Remembrance Day 2026

Liverpool will once again come together this August to mark Slavery Remembrance Day, with a week long programme of events designed to honour the resilience of enslaved people while reflecting on the lasting impact of transatlantic slavery.

Running from 17 to 23 August, the city wide programme will bring together communities, artists, researchers and cultural organisations through lectures, workshops, performances and the annual Walk of Remembrance for Slavery Remembrance Day.

This year’s programme introduces a brand new Slavery Remembrance Summer School, giving local young people aged 12 to 19 the opportunity to take part in a week of movement based workshops exploring identity, legacy and lived experience.

Delivered in partnership with The Black E, the summer school will culminate in a special youth led performance during the Walk of Remembrance on Sunday 23 August.

The programme takes on added significance while Liverpool’s International Slavery Museum remains closed for redevelopment as part of the city’s Waterfront Transformation Project ahead of its planned reopening in 2029.

One of the key events in this year’s programme is the Dorothy Kuya Slavery Remembrance Memorial Lecture, which will welcome internationally renowned scholar and cultural historian Anita Gonzalez.

Taking place at Liverpool Town Hall on 21 August, the lecture will explore themes of memory, resistance and cultural survival across African Diasporic communities.

Named after Liverpool activist, educator and anti racism campaigner Dorothy Kuya, the annual lecture celebrates her lifelong commitment to social justice and education.

Anita Gonzalez said: “Black lives have always been culturally resilient. We mobilise our stories internally for community building and externally for social justice.

“It is an honour to be the guest speaker at Liverpool’s Slavery Remembrance Day. Activists like Dorothy Kuya demonstrate the ongoing resilience of Black people, and transnational activism has always been the path forward for animating networks of social justice.”

Michelle Charters OBE, Head of International Slavery Museum, said: “It’s fitting that while International Slavery Museum’s doors are closed, we have gone big with this year’s programme.

“From Anita Gonzalez’s internationally respected research and creative practice, that speak directly to the themes of remembrance, resistance and cultural survival, to our very first summer school that will engage our local young people to play a symbolic part within the Walk of Remembrance, the programme is full of energy, meaning and purpose.

“Slavery Remembrance Day is as important as ever in a city continuing to confront its historic role in slavery and it feels vital that we create these spaces for reflection, dialogue and learning.”

The annual Walk of Remembrance will take place on Sunday 23 August, starting in Williamson Square at noon. The procession will move through Liverpool city centre, stopping at locations of historic significance for moments of reflection, performance and storytelling before concluding at the waterfront with a traditional masquerade and libation ceremony.

Other events include a workshop marking the 20th anniversary of the Centre for the Study of International Slavery, as well as the launch of a new community research initiative exploring the role of merchant underwriters in supporting the transatlantic slave trade.

The Connector Project, funded by Lloyd’s Register Foundation, will support community led research into the histories and legacies of slavery across the North West.

Full details of the 2026 Slavery Remembrance Day programme can be found via National Museums Liverpool.

National Museums Liverpool celebrates 40 years with packed summer events programme – check it out.

Find out what’s good up North on our new platform, The Northern Guide. 

From the best hotels, beauty spots, days out, food and more up North – visit thenorthernguide.com and follow The Northern Guide on Instagram HERE.