LIAAF

LIAAF Leeds International African Arts Festival (LIAAF) celebrates African culture through music, dance, film, food, and more.

Experience the vibrant spirit of Africa in the heart of Leeds.

LIAAF 2026 begins with an opening ceremony celebrating African creativity, storytelling, music, community, and connectio...
28/05/2026

LIAAF 2026 begins with an opening ceremony celebrating African creativity, storytelling, music, community, and connection under this year’s festival theme, Connect with Nature.

Hosted by comedian and MC , the ceremony will bring together artists, cultural leaders, communities, and audiences for the official opening of EARTHWISE, LIAAF’s photography exhibition created in partnership with Photo North Festival.

The event will also feature a special live performance by Sudanese artist, producer, and social activist Shabaka, whose music blends rhythm, culture, and powerful storytelling into unforgettable performances.

This is where the festival begins. The conversations. The music. The energy. The people.

📍 Slung Low Warehouse, LS11 9RQ
📅 Thursday 04 June 2026
🕚 Opening Ceremony: 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
🎟 Free Entry

Click the link in our bio to get your tickets.

This year at LIAAF 2026, we dance.From the revolutionary sound of Fela Kuti to the energy of Afrobeat moving across gene...
28/05/2026

This year at LIAAF 2026, we dance.

From the revolutionary sound of Fela Kuti to the energy of Afrobeat moving across generations, the LIAAF Dance Party is a celebration of music, movement, freedom, and release under this year’s festival theme, Connect with Nature.

As the world celebrates Fela Kuti’s legendary album Zombie being inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, we honour the music, culture, and spirit that continue to shape dance floors across Africa and beyond.

The night will also feature dance artist leading audiences in a special dance experience to Water No Get Enemy, inviting everyone into a moment of rhythm, joy, and collective movement.

No rules. No pressure. Just good music, community, and a dance floor full of energy.

📍 Slung Low Warehouse
📅 Friday 05 June 2026
🕡 6:30 PM – 10:45 PM

🎟 Click the link in our bio to get your tickets.

AfricanCulture

Hair has always carried stories of identity, culture, care, and tradition.Step Into Africa invites families to an aftern...
28/05/2026

Hair has always carried stories of identity, culture, care, and tradition.

Step Into Africa invites families to an afternoon of storytelling, music, crafts, and cultural connection celebrating African heritage and the beauty of our crowns.

As part of LIAAF 2026 and this year’s theme, Connect with Nature, stylist, model, and hair artist Monique will lead a special Crown Care & Heritage workshop exploring traditional African hair care using shea butter, oils, black soap, and ancestral knowledge passed through generations.

Families will also experience Paper Dolls: Coiff, Coils & Curls, an interactive creative session inspired by African hairstyles, identity, and cultural expression through paper dolls and storytelling.

Enjoy live music and poetry from Hekima, interactive experiences, and a joyful space for communities to connect through African culture.

📍 Meanwood Urban Valley Farm
📅 Saturday 06 June 2026
🕝 2:30 PM – 5:30 PM
🎟 Free Entry

Click the link in our bio to get your tickets.

26/05/2026

We asked the LIAAF team to describe African culture in one word, and somehow each answer captured something completely different while still feeling deeply connected.

That is the spirit of LIAAF 2026.

Under this year’s festival theme, Connect with Nature, the festival explores identity, creativity, heritage, storytelling, community, and the connections that continue to shape African culture across generations and across the diaspora.

This June, audiences across Leeds will experience films, exhibitions, performances, conversations, workshops, and moments that stay with you long after the festival ends.

🎟 Click the link in our bio to get your tickets.

26/05/2026

As part of this year’s LIAAF theme, Connect with Nature, we asked the team a simple question: what African food do you think everyone should try, and how would you describe it in one word?

The answers quickly became bigger than food itself. They became stories about home, comfort, memory, celebration, family, and the deep cultural connections carried through African cuisine across generations.

This is the kind of energy waiting for you at LIAAF 2026. Real conversations. Real culture. Real connection.

🎟 Click the link in our bio to get your tickets.

26/05/2026

Meet some of the people helping shape LIAAF 2026.

John, Monique, Tuiya, Correia, and Joachim are part of the team bringing this year’s festival theme to life through film, art, culture, conversation, food, music, and shared experiences across Leeds.

Behind every screening, exhibition, performance, and cultural moment is a team working to create a festival that feels vibrant, welcoming, and deeply connected to community.

This is your first look at the people behind the experience everyone will be talking about this June.

🎟 Click the link in our bio to get your tickets.

25/05/2026

What begins as a love for wine slowly becomes something far bigger in Blind Ambition.

Following four Zimbabwean refugees who rebuild their lives in South Africa before chasing the impossible dream of competing at the World Blind Wine Tasting Championships in France, the film is funny, emotional, inspiring, and filled with the kind of determination that stays with you long after the credits roll.

More than a documentary about wine, Blind Ambition is a story about friendship, migration, identity, resilience, and what happens when people refuse to let circumstance define them.

Part of Cinema Africa and LIAAF 2026, the screening will also include a special wine tasting introduction hosted by Chris from Latitude Wine before the film begins.

📅 09 June 2026
⏰ 6:00 PM
🍷 Wine add-on available with tickets

🎟 Click the link in our bio to get your tickets.

AfricanCinema DocumentaryFilm WineLovers

Meet the photographers behind EARTHWISE, LIAAF 2026’s photography exhibition created in partnership with Photo North Fes...
25/05/2026

Meet the photographers behind EARTHWISE, LIAAF 2026’s photography exhibition created in partnership with Photo North Festival under this year’s festival theme, Connect with Nature.

Through photography exploring memory, community, environmental resilience, fashion, identity, and everyday life, Tobi Dosumu, Peter Caton, Oluwakemi Oluwunmi, and John Moussa Kalapo bring powerful African visual storytelling to this year’s exhibition.

EARTHWISE also celebrates LIAAF’s role as guest curators at this year’s Photo North Festival.

📍 Slung Low Warehouse, LS11 9RQ
📅 Thursday 04 June – Friday 05 June
🕥 10:30 AM – 4:30 PM
🎟 Free Entry

Click the link in our bio to get your tickets.

AfricanPhotography PhotographyExhibition LeedsEvents

Paper Dolls: Coifs, Coils & Curls brings together children, parents, and guardians for a joyful hands on workshop celebr...
23/05/2026

Paper Dolls: Coifs, Coils & Curls brings together children, parents, and guardians for a joyful hands on workshop celebrating African hairstyles, fashion, creativity, and storytelling as part of Cinema Africa and LIAAF 2026.

Inspired by the era when paper dolls filled homes and classrooms, this intergenerational workshop invites families to design and style paper dolls while exploring the beauty and history behind African cultural hairstyles. Children will cut, colour, decorate outfits, work with fabrics, and create their own dolls using materials provided during the session.

Designed as a space for imagination, play, and cultural connection across generations, the workshop is free and open to children aged 4–13 accompanied by a parent or guardian.

📍 Sunday 07 June
🕚 11:30 AM

🎟 While this is a free drop in event, reserving a space helps us estimate attendance numbers.

CreativeWorkshop FamilyEvents LeedsEvents

In Ibadan, a mother struggles beneath the weight of grief. Elsewhere, a little girl fights to survive in a world that re...
23/05/2026

In Ibadan, a mother struggles beneath the weight of grief. Elsewhere, a little girl fights to survive in a world that refuses to understand her. A mascot performer spends another long day trying to provide for his family, while a quiet road trip slowly reveals the truth hiding inside a marriage.

At the centre of it all is a young man haunted by the abuse that shaped his childhood and the life he cannot seem to escape.

Cinema Africa and LIAAF 2026 present Lagos Fringe Shorts, a powerful collection of provocative, intimate, and deeply human films curated by Lagos Fringe Festival.

Featuring:

• Mother by Olamide Adio & Victor Daniel
• Irin Ajo / The Journey by Myde Glover
• Oga Mike by Chukwu Martin
• In Her Shoes by Ella Chikezie
• Pe*****le by Mohammad Sadegh Ghahremani

These are the kinds of films people keep talking about long after the screening ends.

🎟 Tickets in bio.

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