Freedom Festival, Hull

The second staging of the event, in 2009, was a much expanded occasion, coinciding with the launch of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race from the Hull Marina on the weekend of 11–13 September.

Around 150,000 people attended various events around the city centre, including a spectacular fire display by French street art group Carabosse around the old fruit market warehouse district, and along the Humber waterfront.

[5] Major pop acts, as well as local talent performed on several stages throughout the city centre, including Peter Andre, Florence and the Machine, JLS, Pixie Lott, Foals and Grooverider.

The third annual Freedom Festival took place on the weekend of 10–11 September 2010 with a spectacular centrepiece display by French art group Plasticiens Volants consisting of a parade of enormous inflatable Monsters.

The artists indicated that the piece was inspired by installations of large fibreglass toads placed around the city in celebration of the Larkin25 commemorations for renowned late Hull poet Philip Larkin.

[7] The full programme of events for the festival in 2010 included artists, comedians and performers of international standing alongside musical acts such as 2010 Mercury Prize nominees Foals, The Saturdays, Alesha Dixon, The Wanted, Fyfe Dangerfield, Diana Vickers, Starman, Roll Deep, Skepta and McFly[8] Freedom Festival also showcased local bands and artists in the marina and Fruit Market districts.

[9] The line-up for 2011 included: King Charles, Fenech-Soler, Kyla La Grange, The Belle Collective, The Neat, Zagros Band, Ice House Project, Tribes, The Baghdaddies, White Pilots, Punjabi Akhara, Humba Rumba, Rory Motion, Sean Taylor, Jody McKenna, Roger Davies, Jess Graham Band, Camille O'Sullivan and The Hull Freedom Chorus.

[11] In June 2013, some of the details were revealed including that the event will open with a torchlight procession of over 600 local torchbearers moving throughout the city centre culminating in a rendition of Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 "I Have A Dream" speech.

[13] The festival opened with 'The Long Walk to Freedom' Light Trail through Hull's Old Town featuring work by local artists inspired by Nelson Mandela and the street theatre performers Spark.

[30] The festival's spectacle event, "Mo and the Red Ribbon", featuring a promenade of large-scale puppets was performed by the French company L’Homme Debout on Friday 2 September.