Two weeks of music, food, song and performance starts this month

The Refugee Festival Scotland is back for its seventeenth year with a Scotland-wide programme of events designed to bring communities across the country together.

Taking place at venues across Scotland, the two week festival runs from 20 June – 2 July.

Produced by Scottish Refugee Council, it celebrates the contribution refugees make to Scotland’s cultural life, the food and drink, music and poetry, dance, visual art, language and ideas that refugees bring with them when they begin new lives in safety in Scotland.

Organisers say this year’s line-up has something for everyone, from music and visual art to discussions, films, community and family celebrations, and even a football tournament.

Food lovers are particularly well served with market stalls and pop-up kitchens serving dishes from all over the world.

Festival producer Eleanor Harris said: “So many people across Scotland have come together to welcome refugees over the last year. We are amazed and inspired by people’s kindness and their desire to connect with those who have come here seeking safety from war and violence in their home countries.

“Refugee Festival Scotland gives people from different backgrounds the chance to get to know each other better, to find out a little about each other’s lives and cultures and to discover what we have in common.

“With events running right across the country our festival shows Scotland at its best – friendly, welcoming and full of colour and creativity.”