A FESTIVAL celebrating refugees in Scotland has launched its programme, aiming to put solidarity centre stage by bringing people together through art, culture, and community.
The Scottish Refugee Council (SRC) has announced the return of its annual Refugee Festival Scotland this summer, with more than 150 events taking place across the country from June 12 to 21.
The festival will showcase music, dance, food, art, film, language, and ideas that enrich diverse communities, with this year’s line-up featuring artists and performers with links to 78 different countries around the world.
With anti-refugee rhetoric, hostility and division continuing to grow across the UK, organisers of the Refugee Festival aim to offer space for connection, solidarity and belonging, while maintaining the message that “everyone has the right to be safe and to feel at home in Scotland”.
Playing at this year’s closing ceremony along with his nine bandmates from Makongo, Ngana Makongo said he was excited to be asked to perform at the festival as its ethos fits the stories his band is trying to tell.
“We really wanted to tell the story of being a migrant, with the rising anti-immigration scapegoatism, Reform, and Trump and all of these guys that really don't like us,” he told The National.
“We really want to be a voice for migrants and tell stories of unity and togetherness and how migrants and local people can coexist peacefully and do art and beautiful things that strengthen our community.”
Makongo have played shows across Glasgow and Scotland and tie their lyrics about migration and displacement along with music pulling from genres including reggae, hip hop and punk.
With seven countries represented among Makongo’s 10 members, the group’s frontman said their sound pulls from a variety of experiences and delivers a message that is “really charged and unapologetic”.
“Music is a great tool to spread this kind of message because we pull them from the entertainment, from dance, and for fun, and we tell them some really important messages through the lyrics,” Makongo said.
“It's a place where everyone can be together and forget everything and have a good time.”
Along with several live music events, this year’s Refugee Festival also offers dance performances and art exhibitions, along with family-friendly craft workshops, football tournaments and community meals, which will be staged across Scotland.
The majority of the inclusive programme is free to attend.
Exclusive screenings of award-winning films will also be shown, one of which will be the highly praised Everybody to Kenmure Street, which will be shown at multiple events in Glasgow, with a live panel also taking part in a Q&A.
Tabassum Niamat, a community member whose live footage is central to the documentary and provides commentary in the film, will be one of those who are taking part in the panel at Queen's Park on June 14.
“The Refugee Festival and the work that so many different organisations are doing, and even Everybody to Kenmure Street, is not just reimagining but reminding people what is Glasgow, who are the people of Glasgow,” Niamat said.
“That famous phrase People Make Glasgow, that's definitely true, and I think most people who live here for the most part do have that sense of justice for others and do have the sense of like we all are the same and we all should live a life of dignity and respect and we shouldn't be fearful for our lives or our place here in this country for the city.”
She added: “What we're up against in the bigger landscape is the thing that the Refugee Festival is trying to tackle, and everyone involved here is trying to tackle that.
“Essentially, put away your misconceptions about people, put away what we're being fed, put away anything you hold, any biases that you think that make me or you separate.
“We're not, we're all the same. That's such a simple thing to say.”
What started as a one-day festival back in 2000 in Glasgow, by the SRC, has since grown to be a national celebration.
This year’s celebrations include a Hebridean Refugee Festival, which will see a series of inclusive gatherings, craft sessions, talks and screenings in Stornoway; and When I Grow Up Again, an interactive storytelling performance based on true stories told by Ukrainian refugees, staged in Dundee.
It includes events and artists who are debuting for the first time, along with stalwarts in the festival's programmes.
One of this year’s newcomers includes Ghanaian oil painter Nii Sackey, whose art will showcase the “timely issue of migrants making the crossing and just seeking refuge elsewhere”.
He told The National he is excited to take part in the festival as he feels art is a great way to share his message.
“People from here would look and they see refugees as others, but no, they're not; we're your nurses, your doctors, your neighbours, we work in your local grocery shops,” he said.
“But I feel like arts, in its own way, has the power to break down that kind of othering and help refugees integrate more into this big, beautiful Scottish society of ours.”
This year’s programme arrives at a significant moment, as this summer marks 75 years since the UN Refugee Convention.
SRC chief executive Sabir Zazai said it "remains critical" to stand up for the convention's core principles.
He added: “At a time when refugee rights are under threat and public debate has become increasingly toxic, Refugee Festival Scotland is a powerful reminder that solidarity matters.
“This festival shows the strength found in welcoming newcomers and highlights Scotland’s commitment to being a place of hope and inclusion for all who seek safety here.”
You can find the full programme here.
