Guildhall vampire show to launch Freedom Festival
GOTHIC GUILDHALL: The opening event
By Simon Bristow, Co-Editor
The home of Hull City Council will host the curtain-raiser to this year’s Freedom Festival when an interactive comedy-horror show called Vampires! Vampires! Vampires! takes place at the Guildhall.
The show, by Silent Uproar, will have its first outing at 7.30pm on Wednesday, September 2, when some members of the audience will become 19th century city councillors trying to identify vampires in their midst.
The production, set in 1897, will have further outings at 7pm the next day and with afternoon and evening performances on September 4 and 5. Tickets for Vampires! Vampires! Vampires! cost from £10.
‘MISCHIEVOUS’: Tom, Tom and Tom
Large-scale outdoor events will take place on the Friday and Saturday evenings when Gorilla Circus’s A.I Thentic takes place on a 20-metre high moving stage in Tower Street. Tickets cost £1.
An air of mystery surrounds the performance of The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave, as the venue will only be revealed to ticket holders prior to the show. It takes place at 9pm on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday and tickets cost £12.50 and £10 for concessions.
The festival, which has a theme of Peace and runs until September 6, will also feature The Things We Leave Behind by Hull-based experimental soundscape artists Broken Orchestra. This event will be delivered in 20-minute slots and tickets cost £5.
‘MOVING DANCE WORK’: Black by Oulouy
A total of 32 companies from nine countries will deliver more than 100 events during the festival, including circus, dance, street theatre, installations and performance.
Festival director Phil Hargreaves said: “We’ve programmed Peace as something audiences can experience, not just read about in a brochure.
“Across the weekend, people will encounter it in very different ways – watching a daring circus show with thousands of others, sharing a playful family performance, or spending time with work that asks difficult questions. It’s about making space for connection, imagination and hope in the middle of everyday life.”
STAGE SET: The Things We Leave Behind by Broken Orchestra. Picture credit: Tom Arran
Public spaces across Hull will once again be reimagined as places to gather, watch, participate and connect, with opportunities for people to drop in for a single show or spend the whole weekend exploring.
“Whether you come for one show or the whole weekend, there is a way into the programme for everyone,” said Phil. “Freedom Festival 2026 is an invitation to step outside your routine, experience something unexpected and think about peace from a new angle.”
With something for every kind of festival‑goer, the 2026 line‑up offers a wide range of work for different ages and interests, all threaded through with the idea of Peace:
For families and children: playful shows including Rhinos, Baby Brain, Lilliput and Kismat Walla, transform familiar spaces into places of wonder, fun and discovery.
For deep thinkers: powerful installations such as The Hate Circuit and Through the Ruins, the moving dance work Black, along with evening spectacular A.I. Thentic, invite audiences to sit with complex ideas in a shared space.
For those who love fun and chaos there are high‑energy performances from Always Drinking Marching Band with The Street is Ours, an acrobatic robot Acrobot, and the mischievous trio Tom, Tom and Tom.
SECRET LOCATION: The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave. Picture credit: Matt Hurley
Circus remains central to the festival’s identity and audiences can also experience the gravity‑defying 10,000 Hours at Hull Truck Theatre, the ladder acrobatics of Beyond by Circumstances, and the dramatic wheel of death in Spinsane by Racehorse Company.
Full programme details, trailers and booking information are now available at freedomfestival.online.