Liverpool Arab Arts Festival (LAAF), the longest running annual festival of Arab arts and culture in the UK, returns for its 24th year this July – and has just announced more events for this year’s edition!

World renowned percussionist Simona Abdallah returns to Liverpool, this time to collaborate with two powerful DJs from the Arab music world. At the Bluecoat, expect cutting edge cinema, with My Father and Qaddafi, as well as a collaboration with Comma Press – launching the latest in their ‘Reading The City’ series, The Book of Damascus. And, also announced is a debut script reading of 40 Days & 40 Nights at the Royal Court.

LAAF 2026 will provide a platform for artists and audiences to explore the many meanings of “home”: whether rooted in place and territory, shaped through family and relationships, or carried through memory, movement, environment, and social or geographic experience.

– JUST ANNOUNCED FOR LAAF 2026 –

LAAF are delighted to be collaborating with the Royal Court Theatre to present a ‘script in hand reading’ of 40 Days and 40 Nights on Saturday 18th July.

In 1996, the El Gadhy family from Bootle did what any sensible family would do. They piled onto a bright red double decker bus and set off for Yemen.

Based on the real life journey of Mohamed El Gadhy, and written by Chrissy Jones, 40 Days and 40 Nights is a cross-continental comedy of double decker proportions, where a family departs and comes together. As they navigate across Europe and the Middle East, the El Gadhys explore their different versions of being Muslim, pioneers, Yemeni and Scouse.

Hop on, this is the bus you won’t want to miss – next stop Yemen!

The first announcement of this year’s film programme at LAAF is a powerful piece of cinema – My Father and Qaddafi – to be shown at the Bluecoat on Tuesday 21st July.

My Father and Qaddafi, in association with the University of Liverpool, takes the audience on a raw and reflective journey as Jihan pieces together a father she barely remembers, all while discovering the troubled history and politics of Libya.

A daughter unravels the disappearance of her father, the peaceful opposition leader to Qaddafi, and pieces together her mother’s 19-year search to find him. Without any memory of her father, she tries to reconnect with him and reconcile with her Libyan identity.

The film screening will be followed by a Q&A.

Also taking place at the Bluecoat, LAAF will launch The Book of Damascus on Thursday 23rd July, in association with Comma Press.

Expect a celebration of storytelling, writing, and critical thinking from the Syrian Capital. Damascus is a city of contradictions – it’s the oldest city in the world, and stands at a crossroads between East and West, the past and the future, peace and war.

The latest instalment in Comma’s ‘Reading the City’ series is filled with the perspectives of ordinary Syrians we never read about in the news – be they teenage boys scheming to raise funds for a longed-for Eid picnic; impoverished girls picking through rubbish dumps hoping to find gold, or more mystical characters like the mysterious guardians who watch over the seven planet-themed gates of the old town.

Join us for an evening of readings, translations and discussions about the challenges that Damascus has survived, and what lies ahead for it, in these most precarious times. Featuring Zaher Omareen, Odai Al-Zoubi and Majd Abu Shawish.

On Saturday 25th July, LAAF will partner with Savera UK for two events at Rough Trade Liverpool. Internationally recognised percussionist, Simona Abdallah will be welcomed to the city for an afternoon of thought-provoking conversation intertwined with Simona’s powerful performances on the darbuka, a hand-played traditional percussion instrument.

This will be followed by a night of exhilarating rhythms and mixes from Simona and two other powerful musicians of Arab heritage: Palestinian music producer, filmmaker and DJ, Hiba Salameh, and Jordanian sound artist, creative producer and DJ, Yasmeen Soudani (DJ MUSYS).

The afternoon’s discussion will explore the patriarchal constraints that Simona faced in embracing the darbuka, her personal story in which her family attempted to force her into an array of marriages, and how she overcame those challenges to find freedom and success through her art.

The conversation will be hosted by Sara Suliman, a UK-based Sudanese filmmaker, Chevening scholar, researcher, producer, director and a member of the LAAF board of directors. The event will feature a welcome from Savera UK CEO & Founder, Afrah Qassim, conversation, live acoustic performances and a Q&A session.

In the evening the event will celebrate Simona’s virtuosity on the darbuka, an instrument traditionally dominated by men, with the acclaimed musician bringing her rhythmic energy to the stage in a powerful solo set, before showcasing her unparalleled improvisational skills performing with DJ Hiba Salameh and DJ MUSYS.

Named by Mixmag as ‘one of the Palestinian DJs you need to know’, DJ Hiba Salameh’s electrifying sets navigate through the wide universe of electronic music blending the huge heritage of Arabic music with its counterparts from the planet’s southern hemisphere.

DJ MUSYS plays experimental electronica shaped by futurist Arab themes. Her practice explores migration, land and collective identity through sound, drawing on archaeology, sonic cultures and imagined futures.

This year’s festival will highlight how Arab artists – from within the region and across the diaspora – engage with the deep and ever-shifting concept of belonging, while also recognising those whose sense of home is less stable or anchored, as is often the case for migrants and displaced communities.

Across ten days, a bold and diverse programme will trace the emotional and political dimensions of home: from the comfort of closeness to the ache of distance, and the possibilities in exploring new ground.

Through sound, performance, visual art, and personal narratives, LAAF 2026 invites audiences to reflect on the places that shape us, and on how families, social networks, and communities continue to build foundations of cultural connection and inclusion.

Liverpool Arab Arts Festival takes places across Liverpool venues from 17th to 26th July 2026. Tickets for all events as they are announced will be available via arabartsfestival.com.