Sign up: Edinburgh Deaf Festival’s fifth year
Back for its fifth edition, organisers hope Edinburgh Deaf Festival can create a sense of belonging, as Ananya Patankar finds out
Edinburgh Deaf Festival returns with its most ambitious programme to date, bringing together more than 80 events celebrating deaf culture, language and creativity. Produced by Deaf Action in collaboration with the Fringe, it has become an important platform for artists while welcoming deaf, hard of hearing and hearing audiences into a shared cultural space. The festival spans theatre, comedy, music, visual storytelling and community events, reflecting the breadth of contemporary deaf creativity. It’s the first programme under newly appointed festival director Nadia Nadarajah and features artists from here and abroad.
Highlights include Fuse Theatre’s A Night In Sign hosted by Nadeem Islam; Brazil’s interactive Sign Slam; William Grint’s The Deaf Bard; Sarah Adedeji’s Pray For Me; and the bilingual family production The Librarians. For Nadarajah, the festival’s greatest strength lies beyond its programme. ‘What makes the festival truly special is the sense of home and belonging it creates,’ she says. That spirit also extends beyond the stage through BSL tours of the Botanic Gardens, a National Museum Of Scotland takeover and a range of creative workshops across the city.
Edinburgh Deaf Festival, various venues, 7–16 August.