Freedom Festival 2009

'Freedom' is a FREE music and live arts festival, taking place in Hull city centre on Friday 11th to Sunday 13th September 2009.

Florence and the Machine will close the Freedom Main Stage on Sunday, with Patrick Wolf performing before her. Before that the BBC - Raw Talent take over the stage showcasing The Gang, Horseguards Parade and Silent Film Project.

On Saturday Freedom Goes POP! across the Freedom Main Stage and Clipper stage with Pixie Lott, JLS, Peter Andre, and a secial guest, yet to be announced, will close the Saturday main stage. The Freedom stage for part of Saturday will be providing a Love Music Hate Racism set with The King Blues (Headliner), Chipmunk, The Paddingtons, EndOfLevelBaddie, The Notebook, Novacaine, Shanga Band, Counting Coins, and Abbie Lammas.

A range of music acts including indie, pop and jazz stars will grace three main stages with several satellite stages around the city centre over the weekend and will be interspersed with dazzling multicultural dance performances.

This year there will be jazz performances around the Hull Marina area with Ruby Turner, and The East Coast Big Band to coincide with Freedom 2009 and the start of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race 09/10.

Hull will see the city come to life with live performances of chart-topping music, international art installations, colourful dance displays and the awesome sight of a fleet of Clipper yachts beginning their round-the-world journey.

Avant-garde arts company Carabosse will join the festival from France to light up the Fruit Market area of the city with their Installation de Feu: a fire installation consisting of a series of sculptures and structures that will create a stunning, yet tranquil, walk through the streets. Walkers will be led to a host of different entertainment and surprises along their journey, discovering a host of live music stages, DJ's and outdoor bars.

New to Freedom Gardens this year is the Children's Tipi Village, presenting a programme of entertainment just for kids over both Saturday and Sunday. From puppet shows and storytelling to face painting and arts and crafts, this special kid's area is all held under the stunning Freedom Tipi Village located in the arena at Queen's Gardens.

This year's festival will also be marking the 250th anniversary of the birth of William Wilberforce. Freedom is a festival to celebrate the life and work of William Wilberforce, a Hull-born MP who was a highly influential social reformer. The festival is a lasting legacy of the bi-centenary of the abolition of slavery, which was commemorated by the Wilberforce 2007 campaign. Hull continues to be a leader in the anti-slavery movement through its Wilberforce institute for the study of slavery and emancipation.

The Red Arrows will take to the skies at 11.30am to herald the beginning of the fleet's parade of sail through the city's waterways and the fleet will receive an official farewell from The Band of the Royal Marines. At 2pm precisely a cannon will fire to mark the race start and the first mile of 35,000.

For more information, see the Freedom Festival website or call 01482 223559.

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