The first Liverpool Gospel Music Festival took place on the 9th of September 2023. The event was held in North Liverpool and featured internationally known artists, including headliners The Kingdom Choir and Called Out Music.
The festival is currently sponsored by Vistaprint, Arts Council England and Liverpool City Council. As the festival develops over the next few years, it will also include panel discussions with artists, meet the artist events, participatory activities for families and the community and wider celebrations of black culture.
How you can help
Tens of thousands have already been raised for the Festival, including support from Liverpool City Council, Vistaprint, LFC, the UK government's Shared Prosperity Fund and the Arts Council England among others.
However, to help bring gospel music to the mainstream and keep the Festival affordable for all in 2024, we need your help to make it happen. Give £5, £10, £20 or £50 to bring this vital cultural event to life and keep it accessible for the whole community.
What is gospel music?
The Gospel Music Industry Alliance identifies UK Gospel Music as derived from the African, American and Caribbean musical experience relating to the Christian faith. It had a profound impact on the development of popular music throughout the 20th century.
The Liverpool Gospel Music Festival, whilst acknowledging and valuing the roots of the genre in Christianity, black culture and spirituality, welcomes people of all faiths, ethnicities and identities.
Why a Gospel Music Festival? Why Now?
Gospel Music is an inclusive, joyful, uplifting, moving music genre that celebrates the stories, histories, cultures and achievements of black communities.
Much modern mainstream music, as well as many genres of music of black origin, owe their origins and inspirations to gospel music. However, these roots often go unacknowledged and unrecognised.
Gospel musicians are fantastic, talented artists, and gospel music is a popular artform, particularly among black communities, but there is no mainstream UK gospel music festival.
These are times of profound challenge. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, ever-present racial tensions, political unrest and a cost of living crisis that has many people living in fear, this is now an ideal time for gospel music, a musical genre which celebrates hope, life and love. A celebration of gospel music is a celebration of the resilience of the human spirit.
This festival will connect families and communities with music that combines positive, uplifting messages with an unflinching acknowledgement of the difficult realities of the world, creating an experience of great meaning and hope.
It will also, through the allied gospel music into schools programme, bring widespread education of the contribution of black people to the culture and music enjoyed by all in the UK.
