Various locations across Edinburgh
Offering a festival for everyone, Edinburgh Deaf Festival offers a range of engaging activities and performances designed to showcase deaf culture, language and arts.
Running over 10 days, this year’s programme includes over 70 events, all of which are accessible to deaf and hearing audiences through BSL, BSL/English interpretation, or captions.
Among those taking part in the fourth annual festival are comedians John Smith and Gavin Lilley and Gaelic and Scots singer and musician Evie Waddell, who are all well-known to hearing audiences. There will be a specially commissioned production written and directed by Nadia Nadarajah, who recently earned huge acclaim as Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra at The Globe.
Some additional highlights in this year’s programme are:
- Deaffy Drag Queeny: Glitter, Gags and GSV: Deaffy drag queens Mary and Danielle bring cheeky charm, outrageous wit and deaf gay Pride to the stage.
- Magic Morgan and Liliana: A family-friendly show packed with illusions, comedy and mime.
- Scratch Night: An evening of bold new ideas from comedy to experimental acts – raw creativity which may be the next big thing.
Additionally, as part of the festival, you can join Surgeons Hall Museum for their BSL Blood and Guts walking tour. Explore the highs and lows of Edinburgh’s world-renowned medical history. You will discover little known accounts of iconic writers, chloroform tea parties, pioneering women, grave robbing and of course Britain’s first serial killers the infamous Burke and Hare. For more information and to book tickets, visit BSL Blood and Guts.
Other festival events include a networking session with Scottish-based theatre company Solar Bear, allowing deaf and hearing creatives to connect, a pub quiz, karaoke, discussions, parties and film screenings.
There will be comedy and drama workshops, guided tours of The Georgian House, the Royal Botanic Garden and National Galleries Scotland. A festival Youth Club for deaf young people aged 10 to 18 will run from 8 to 10 August and there will be a parent and toddler group.
The festival will take place across various venues in Edinburgh, with several of the events free to attend. For tickets and more information, visit Edinburgh Deaf Festival.
