A REFUGEE charity has announced a nationwide festival which celebrates stories of people and communities who have settled in Scotland.
The Scottish Refugee Council (SRC) has announced the return of the Refugee Festival Scotland this summer with more than 130 events which will take place across the country starting June 14 and lasting 10 days.
The festival aims to bring people together from different backgrounds in friendship and solidarity as there will be performances from artists who have come to Scotland seeking refugee protection, along with the communities that have welcomed them.
The event is planned to be the biggest festival yet by the charity, which started as a one-day festival back in 2000 in Glasgow, and has now grown to be a national celebration.
There will be music, dancing, DJs and drag queens, food and drink, football tournaments and family-friendly picnics.
Refugee Festival Scotland manager Mónica Laiseca stated the festival is a celebration of cultural richness and the contributions new settlers in Scotland make to their local and wider communities.
She said: “The festival is an open programme model so anyone can submit an activity or an event to be part of the programme.
“Not only is the only dedicated festival for refugees and asylum seekers in Scotland is one where they set the agenda of what happens.
“They decide what the events are going to be.
“The festival is both a celebration of the cultural richness and contributions that New Scots give to Scotland and an opportunity to make visible that support that exists all year round in communities for refugees and asylum seekers.
“There really is that sense of celebrating and really offering welcoming spaces that people can then, you know, take forward and continue this culture elsewhere.”
The SRC is an independent Scottish human rights charity which is dedicated to providing advice and information for people who have fled horrific situations around the world.
This year’s festival theme is "rise" and has been chosen to symbolise the honour and the resilience of people who are rebuilding their lives in safety in Scotland.
Fatma Elaraby, who is the Refugee Festival Scotland ambassador and Maryhill Integration Network team member, echoed this year's theme.
The festival ambassador stated it is a week of celebration and although life can be tough and starting over as a refugee can be a great struggle, she says you have to dig deep inside yourself and rise above it all.
She said: “Being an ambassador is an important role on two sides for the refugees to support them, motivate them, asking them not to stop fighting their struggles not to stop rising, and to continue everything.
“And on the other hand, for the Scottish people to say thank you.
“You are welcoming refugees here and you support them. So let's celebrate together what you did for them.
“This is kind of what the festival is about. Kind of like community celebration. You are exhausted through the whole year. We have one week just to celebrate. Forget everything, forget any problems. Forget any struggles you go through, just rise again.”
Elaraby also added that many refugees leave family and friends or may not have any left and emphasised the festival is a good time to make new connections and relationships.
She said: “You can find new friends because a lot of people have family, but they don't belong to them, so you can find an alternative family from here.
“You can put yourself in different events through the year, not only through the festival throughout the year, so you can create new family for you.
“New members, you can feel safe that you have here people you can stick together, support each other if one of you needs help.
“It's a week of happiness. Enjoy it.”
Some highlights announced for this year include a collaboration between the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) and three Glasgow-based community choirs accompanied by an 18-piece ensemble from the RSNO as well as an interactive nature session in Dundee.
A big part of the festival is sharing the lived experiences of refugees as the line-up brings people from different backgrounds and cultures together to meet, mix and get to know each other better.
Ukrainian band Progressive Time is one of the many acts which will be performing at the festival, and they believe the event gives them a great platform to express themselves.
The three-piece band, comprised of cellist Kateryna Tunina, flautist Valeria Nezhurbida, and violinist Bohdan Ilnytskyi, all met in Scotland after they fled the war in Ukraine and are passionate about sharing their twist on traditional Ukrainian music.
Nezhurbida said: “It feels like we're carrying something.
“We represent something important and we want to show the culture, to show the clothes, the costumes and to share our music.
“It feels also it also feels really important to take part in the festival because it unites people. It unites different cultures, and it gives an opportunity to communicate between the different nations.”
The band play traditional Ukrainian music, but with a twist, as the talented trio uses different instruments than the ones used back in Ukraine to play and have had to recompose some of the melodies.
They also play in authentic dress as they aim to break stereotypes of what people think of Ukrainians and wear traditional patterns and jewellery to express themselves not just through song.
Huss Al-Chokhdar, who is an artist, event organiser, and Refugee Festival Scotland Programming fellow, also voiced the festival's celebration of giving voices to refugees and celebrating the communities which have welcomed them.
He said: “It's important because, especially nowadays things might not be very welcoming or safe for people seeking asylum or refugees.
“So just having the chance to facilitate those spaces and create them for people to feel safe and welcome and feel like is very important.
“I think it's important to come celebrate people's culture and identities and also stand in solidarity with everyone.”
Full programme details are now online: refugeefestivalscotland.co.uk
