The weekend saw a wonderful array of events taking place across the country as part of Refugee Festival Scotland 2023. Communities got together to celebrate and showcase their skills, talents, cultures and their hopes for a better future.  

Watch our video to get a flavour of the events that took place over the weekend. If you missed out, don’t worry! There are still plenty of opportunities to join in this week and coming weekend. Find out what’s on here.  

Caption: Images thanks to our volunteer photographers: Becky Duncan, Eliose Bishop, Polina Perfilieva.

Some of our festival volunteers shared their experiences of the events they attended…

Louise: “Pachedu put on a feast of African food, music and dance – it was uplifting!”

Hassan: “I attended 4 events, and all of them were well organised. I enjoyed the Refugee Festival Barbeque event , great entertainment, and what I saw at the Art Exhibition-Museum of Small Things and seeing the creativeness of refugees and asylum seekers.”

Fatou: “I was with Louise at Pachedu’s event. The food and music touched me and I participated in one of the cultural activities where I was given the role of a grandma. It reminded me of my grandchildren back home who I miss a lot.”

Olori: “I attended 2 events. The first event was the picnic and play at the hidden gardens, and the event was a success for me because I never saw some things before.  I felt so excited. The second event was refugee festival barbecue at the event, we all felt very relaxed. We ate and the drum set was beating to our excitement we have fun and it’s a great entertainment.”

World Refugee Day  

Don’t forget that tomorrow is World Refugee Day – a day to celebrate the resilience and courage of refugees, and to stand in solidarity with people who are seeking safety.  

Standing in solidarity with people seeking safety is more important than ever. There are lots of ways that you can show your support this World Refugee Day. Find out more.