This site will be re-built in 2026 for a better and brighter future!
Watch this space for ‘REFLECTIONS’, a new improved Festival31
Brought to Life by the Community
Festival31 provides opportunities for creative engagement with and between communities, focusing on highlighting experiences of displacement, forced migration, and resettlement. The programme offers counter-narratives to negative rhetoric on migration through arts activism and grassroots community creativity. Festival31 also commissions new work from artists who are seeking, or have sought sanctuary on Merseyside.
Powered by Community, Driven by Purpose
Festival31 is a community-owned celebration of dialogue, change, and solidarity with displaced and resettled people — not just a festival, but a movement shaped by care, creativity, and connection.
Hear Adele Spiers, Artistic Director & Clinical Lead at SOLA ARTS talk about what’s happening with our work.
A hub of artistic talent
Festival31 brings together artists and creative individuals from displaced backgrounds and showcases their work. The programme also provides opportunities for emerging artists to develop their creative lives.
2025 – Time to Reflect & Dream
After ten years of Festival31, 2025 was a time to pause, reflect & plan. We have created a 5 year vision including artists residencies, events, exhibitions, collaborations and more.
2025 Artist Residencies saw six diverse artists collaborate on dreaming new art exploring narratives of displacement. This work will come to fruition in 2026 and act as a basis for community engagement across the region.
Why is F31 needed?
We:
- Open conversations about forced displacement and settlement while challenging stereotypes.
- Believe that arts and culture can play a fundamental role in exploring these themes in an honest, open and approachable way
- Help to create emotional connections to the stories being shared and providing opportunity for talents to be recognised.
- Showcase the incredible talents of individuals eager to share their artistic skills while collaborating with other UK artists.
- Provide representation for displaced artists and makers, offering a welcoming space for these artists, giving a space to self-express and reconnect with their creative identities whilst enriching arts, cultural, creative industries and enabling connection and community.
We all benefit from Festival31! To find out more email us; contact@festival31.co.uk
We are thankful for the support of agencies like Heart of Glass, Africa Oye, Tate Liverpool and Culture Liverpool.
