A fabulous second weekend of entertainment is about to get underway at the fifth annual Edinburgh Deaf Festival with an abundance of shows for adults and children.
One of the big attractions will be Lights & Lanterns (produced by Spectroscope) in which actors David Ellington (pictured) and Ciaran O’Breen perform the roles of Victorian deaf artists Harry Ash and Harry Bow.
Audiences are invited to step inside an emporium of light and shadow in which a 130-year-old magic lantern is used to project images of old Edinburgh. There will also be shadow puppetry set against an image of the city skyline. It’s a playful and interactive experience where people can create their own hand-painted glass slides and try their hand at being a Victorian projectionist.
Another family-friendly event is The Librarians: Step into a world where books burst into life! Meet the wonderfully quirky Miss Book and Mr Page as they discover the adventures hidden in their library of old books. A celebration of everyone’s stories!
For adults there is:
- A Night in Sign: A vibrant BSL-led cabaret event. Hosted by Nadeem Islam and featuring performances from acclaimed deaf artist Chris Fonseca alongside some of the UK’s most exciting Deaf creatives.
- Pray for Me: Sarah Adedeji’s raw, intimate and visually striking blend of poetry, movement, dance and live music (by ISRA3L). A work in development it explores the barriers, prejudice and cultural assumptions faced by a young black woman from London being raised by a highly religious Nigerian family.
And these are just some of the highlights. From Friday to the end of the 10-day festival on Sunday there will be around three dozen events and activities. There is Deaf Karaoke, a deaf makers’ market, a Park Run, yoga, museum tour, boxing, a zoo tour, storytelling workshop and plenty more. There is also an exhibition of work by deaf artists Trudi Collier, Viktoriya Rudenko and Rubbena Aurangzeb-Tariq.
EDF is a celebration of deaf culture and is organised by Deaf Action (the world’s oldest deaf charity and deaf-led organisation which dates back 190 years to 1835).
-Ends-
Notes for editors
- See the Edinburgh Deaf Festival website at https://edinburghdeaffestival.co.uk.
Supporters and sponsors: This year’s festival supporters and sponsors are: Creative Scotland, City of Edinburgh Council, Heriot-Watt University, Association of Sign Language Interpreters, The Scotch Whisky Experience, LumoTV.
About Deaf Action
- Deaf Action is a deaf led charity based in Edinburgh, supporting people in Scotland and the South of England – see https://www.deafaction.org
- Founded in 1835 it is the world’s oldest deaf charity and the first formally constituted deaf organisation.
- It exists to support the diversity of deaf people, including deaf users of British Sign Language (BSL), and those who are deafened, deafblind or hard of hearing.
- Deaf Action’s work is geared towards empowering all deaf people to achieve their potential and fully participate in society, with equality of rights, access and opportunity.
- Almost half of the staff are deaf, and many more have grown up with deaf parents or siblings. Deaf Action truly understand the challenges deaf people face, and believes that its collective experience allows it to honestly position itself as having the expertise to unlock deaf people’s potential.
Social media: www.instagram.com/edindeaffestival/ www.twitter.com/EdinDeafFest/ www.facebook.com/EdinDeafFestival/
About Creative Scotland: Creative Scotland is the public body that supports culture and creativity across all parts of Scotland, distributing funding provided by the Scottish Government and The National Lottery. Further information at creativescotland.com. Follow Creative Scotland on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
For media information contact Matthew Shelley at SFPR on 07786 704 299 or at Matthew@ScottishfestivalsPR.org
