Events > Liberty > Background to Liberty

Background to Liberty

Liberty began in 2002 with a commitment by the Mayor of London to stage a festival for the European Year of Disabled People. A year in the planning, the first Liberty Festival took place on 7 September 2003. The active involvement of disabled people has been central to making Liberty happen and the festival was from the beginning planned in partnership with organisations led by disabled and Deaf people. An advisory group has worked together with the GLA and the producer Greenwich+Docklands Festivals to help develop and promote the event. Contributors have included Attitude is Everything, British Deaf Association, Creative Routes, Greater London Action on Disability, London Disability Arts Forum, People First, Regard and Shape.

Back in 2002 concerns about the suitability of Trafalgar Square as a venue for a disability rights festival, both for artists and audiences, led to the completion of an access report. This advised that a festival for disabled people could succeed in the Square but only if appropriate access arrangements were made. As a result access has been at the heart of planning for the festival and a high priority is given to making the event accessible to as many people as possible.

From the very first year, Liberty has featured numerous great performances from UK based and international artists. In 2006 major new outdoor Arts Council funded works such as 'Miniatora' from CandoCo; 'Elevation' from Caroline Bowditch and 'Priscilla Queen of the Deaf World' from The Alexandras provided celebratory highs for the festival.

In 2007, Liberty took a new direction with the inclusion of creative zones each curated by Deaf and disabled artists. The zones included Music and Dance; Carnival; Aerial and Circus; Street Arts; Visual Arts and Film; Cabaret and Comedy and a Children's Area. The event was designed to have a fun, informal and celebratory feel that encouraged people to move around and experience what each zone had to offer. Highlights included a new Arts Council funded commission entitled 'Look!' from Heart 'n Soul. This epic site-specific dance and music piece featured more than 60 budding performers and brought the spirit and energy of The Beautiful Octopus Club and The Squidz Club to Trafalgar Square. The new format was a great success and thousands of people were attracted into the Square to enjoy the event. This format was further developed at the Liberty Festival 2008 on Saturday 30 August.

Liberty provides a benchmark and inspiration for other festivals and events, in particular through its work on disability access, both for artists and audiences. The event continues to go from strength to strength, increasingly playing a role in the development of exciting outdoor performance and as a way of raising the profile of work by Deaf and disabled artists.