Liverpool Arab Arts Festival announces new acts

Liverpool Arab Arts Festival (LAAF), the longest running annual festival of Arab arts and culture in the UK, returns for its 23rd year this July – and has just announced three more events for this year’s edition!

LAAF exists to support and champion creatives from across the Arab region and its diaspora, in the belief that art and creativity have the power to express a shared humanity. The festival also celebrates Liverpool’s unique identity; a city, with a global community and brimming with artistry, that looks outwards across the world and welcomes and accepts all who arrive within it.

Penguin

They are delighted to welcome Penguin to the Unity Theatre, Liverpool on 11th July for the opening day of this year’s festival.

Full of humour and beauty, Hamzeh Al Hussien’s extraordinary story takes you on a personal tour of the places he knows best. His village in the Syrian mountains, Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan, Gateshead (UK) and inside his mind: a place full of music, dancing, fantasies and marbles.

Hamzeh invites the audience to be his childhood friends, to hold up the moon to light his way, and into his dreams, brushing the dust from his clothes…and taking the stage.

Book tickets here.

Jordanian food & cultural experience with Yamama

Futoon Qusairy is a Jordanian artist based in Liverpool. Together with her sister Noura, they founded Yamama Café & Bar, named one of the UK’s ‘Top 10 Hidden Gems’.

At LAAF 2025 they will host a Cultural Lunch Club and Supper Club on Tuesday 15th July, to bring people together through food, art, and memory. Guests will be invited to experience traditional Jordanian dishes, crafted from Futoon & Noura’s family’s own recipes – with each plate telling a story of heritage and home.

The event will also include a short film screening, and every guest will leave with a small, sentimental gift – a symbol of their culture’s warmth and hospitality.

Book tickets here.

Palestine Minus One

With Mazen Maarouf, Anwar Hamed, and Basma Ghalayini.

A unique evening of stories and discussion at the Bluecoat, launching Comma Press’s new anthology, Palestine Minus One – an exploration of the event that underpins Israel’s 77-year-long occupation of Palestine: the Nakba of 1948. As a prequel to Comma’s award-winning Palestine + 100 science fiction project, this anthology asks ten Palestinian authors to revisit the build-up to the catastrophe of 1948 as well as its immediate and long-term repercussions, using fantastical, supernatural and speculative tropes.

All of these writers had grandparents or great-grandparents who were forcibly displaced during the Nakba, and all offer new ways of re-processing that trauma. At this event, we’ll hear from two of the most prominent Palestinian authors out there: Mazen Maarouf and Anwar Hamed, along with the anthology’s editor Basma Ghalayini.

The discussion at The Bluecoat on Wednesday 16th July will be chaired by Comma Press founder, Ra Page.

Book tickets here.

Good Chance presents…

A Grain of Sand حبة رمل
By Elias Matar

Commissioned by London Palestine Film Festival
Supported by Liverpool Arab Arts Festival

Adapted from A Million Kites: Testimonies and Poems from the Children of Gaza by Leila Boukarim and Asaf Luzon

Renad, a young Gazan girl, embarks on a dangerous journey. Carrying only the echoes of her grandmother’s tales and the spark of her own imagination, she searches for her family and the ‘Anqaa’ – the mythical Palestinian Phoenix.

A Grain of Sand is a one-woman show that takes an intimate look at war through the eyes of a child, blending Palestinian folklore with real-life testimonies from children in contemporary Gaza. Renad’s story is one of resilience, hope and the right of children to be children. The show will be performed at the Unity Theatre on Friday 18th July.

Book tickets here.

The Alexandrian

In this free exhibition, Mohamed Gohar utilises his artistic visual language alongside architectural and heritage experiences.

He examines the dynamics of present-day Alexandrian society and their influence on the evolution of the city’s urban and built environment. The aim is to observe and analyse the communal behaviours of the city users, focusing on fostering an objective understanding of the changing values and cultures.

The exhibition at Yamama Café and Bar runs throughout the festival’s duration and includes an informal artist talk (and a complimentary hot or soft drink!) on Wednesday 16 July, at 4pm.

Palestinian Tatreez (Embroidery) Workshop

This adult workshop at Bluecoat will teach the basics of Tatreez (traditional Palestinian embroidery) and explore how this ancestral craft can connect us to heritage, resistance, and each other. Stitch your own pattern, and discover the powerful history woven into every thread.

The workshop on Sunday 13th July from Tatreez Collective consists of two parts: a short presentation that covers the history of Tatreez and its role in Palestinian society, followed by a practical session, teaching participants how to embroider a Palestinian traditional pattern (Basic stitches on Aida fabric, the usual fabric to make frames).

All levels are welcome – no experience needed, just curiosity and care. Materials will be provided.

Book tickets here.

These six events join the already announced violin virtuoso Akram Abdulfattah, Nour Bishouty exhibiting in collaboration with Liverpool Biennial, and the ever-popular Family Day at Sefton Park Palm House, for what’s shaping up to be an eclectic multi-arts festival. More events will be announced very soon.

This year’s festival theme is Nostalgia, which will be explored through a diverse range of disciplines, including music, theatre and performance, visual art, spoken word, literature and film.

Through our platform, we celebrate the courage of Arab artists who document, challenge, and interpret change. Their voices are crucial. This year, we proudly present powerful works from across the Arab world including Palestine, Syria, Yemen, Egypt and many others. Giving space to stories that are often silenced, and emotions too deep for words, yet expressed through art. We also invite you to experience Arab cultures in all its richness with music, poetry, performance, and the unforgettable taste of our cuisine.