Positive Images Festival is run, organised and delivered by volunteers. Over 100 organisations are involved in the 2017 Festival – whether these are communities, community, voluntary, educational, and statutory organisations, they all work under the umbrella of Positive Images. The Festival could not happen without its volunteers and volunteer organisations and as in recent years it receives invaluable help from both Culturae Mundi, Coventry University and the University of Warwick. We thank them for their great enthusiasm and their support.

The Festival was founded to celebrate the amazing heritage and cultural traditions of the city’s communities and now the Festival embraces diversity in all its forms. This year is a very important time in the artistic life of the city with the bid to City of Culture. We wish the bid organisers great success and they will be in no doubt that the Positive Images Festival will celebrate a successful bid and continue to support arts in the city.

This year the Festival will be launched on Saturday 10th June at 12 noon outside the Central Library in Smithford Way by the Lord Mayor of Coventry and Pru Porretta, Lady Godiva.

The Festival is strongly supported by Hillz FM radio station and there will be interviews with local people attending the festival and Hillz FM will be managing the Festival stage with performances from musicians and dancers representing the cultural diversity of the City.

There are over 200 events in this year’s Festival beginning with a special Positive Images Festival storytelling session and a high profile Poetry from the Stage event at the Albany Theatre on Saturday 3rd June. As in previous years, there will be two Fairs – the Craft and Food Festival on 10th June and the Community Information Fair on 16th June. Again with the support of the Ukrainian community in the city, there will be a Multicultural Concert of Music and Dance, taking place on the evening of the 24th June. Please read through the Festival programme booklet for the details of all the events taking place and check out the Festival website www.positiveimagesfestival.co.uk for the programme and any additional events and activities.

Finally, thanks to the funders of the Festival – Coventry City Council and Grants for the Arts (Arts Council). So we hope you will enjoy the plethora of high quality events at this year’s Festival and please support the organisers, performers, partner organisations by coming along to the many events and activities that form part of this year’s programme.

Colin Scott
Festival Chair

Programme

View or Download 2017 Programme

Brief summary of events

Positive Images Festival 2017

Pre-festival event:

Saturday 3^rd June  – Poetry from the Stage

Saturday 10^th June:

10.00am – 4.00pm Multicultural Craft & Food Fair/Festival Launch/Entertainment

&  2.00pm – 3.00pm  Youth Session – discussion about conflict

& 2.00pm – 7.00pm Malaysian Cultural Fayre

Saturday 10/Sunday 11 June – Coventry Pride

Tuesday 13 June 5.00pm  The Big Question

Thursday 15 June 10.30am – 1.00pm  Faith Trail

Friday 16 June 10.00am – 4.00pm  Community Information Fair

& 12.00 noon – 1.00pm  reconciliation Statue revisited

& 6.30pm Films from Palestine

Sunday 18 June – 12.00 noon – 4.00pm Big Lunch, Spencer Park & 1.00pm – 5.00 pm Multicultural Big Lunch, Memorial Park

Wednesday 21 June  2.00pm –  4.00pm  Our Life on the Breadline – Faith, Politics and Poverty

& 7.00pm – 10.30pm Fallen Angels Fundraising Charity Gig

& 7.30 – 9.30pm  Sing Global Harmony

Saturday 24 June  1.00pm – 5.00pm Communities in the Park

&2.00pm – 3.00pm  Youth Session – Migration workshop

& 7.00pm – 10.00pm  Multicultural Concert of Music & Dance

Sunday 25 June A Better Life

Exhibitions:

10 June – 15 September  Our Place Here

19 – 23 June Celebrating Refugee Week

Post-festival events

Saturday 1 July 11.00am – 4.00pm  community Big Lunch

&3.30pm – 5.00pm  Beyond group Allegiances

Saturday 15 July 12.00 noon – 5.00pm  Hillfields Gala Day

Saturday 22 July African & Caribbean Food & Music Festival