Paul Johnson

The Freedom Festival will expand beyond Hull in 2026, staging free outdoor performances in Grimsby, Goole, Tadcaster and Bridlington from 31 August to 4 September, before the main festival in Hull from 3 to 6 September. The touring programme includes circus, acrobatics, dance, robotics and interactive family events such as Spinsane, Senescence, Otempodiz, Acrobot and Lilliput. Director Phil Hargreaves said the expansion aims to make the festival’s work accessible to more communities and encourage visitors to attend the larger Hull programme, which will feature more than 100 events.

Skegness's Embassy Theatre is celebrating its 100th anniversary. The venue, which has occupied the same seafront site since 1926 and still contains remnants of the original seawall, has survived major changes and a devastating 1978 storm. Staff and performers recall its long history, including Ken Dodd's 45 consecutive years of shows, while archives document appearances by generations of British entertainers. The theatre plans to mark the centenary with new performances and aims to remain a central entertainment venue for the community.

A DNA test revealed that Hull resident Yvette Holly was half Icelandic and prompted her to search for her unknown father. A genealogy match led her to distant cousin Barour Jon Grimsson, whose mutual Facebook connection with Hull fishing historian Alec Gill uncovered an unexpected link through the 1915 shipwreck of the trawler Pamela near Iceland. Bari’s family had preserved parts of the vessel, and he subsequently helped Yvette contact her Icelandic first cousins. The discovery brought together relatives separated by more than 1,000 miles and highlighted the shared fishing history and losses experienced by communities in Hull and Iceland.

The former Cook, Welton and Gemmell shipyard in Beverley, East Yorkshire, built hundreds of trawlers and other vessels between the early 1900s and its closure in 1963. Its ships included the Viola, which served as a North Sea fishing vessel, a First World War naval vessel involved in anti-submarine operations, and later a whaling and scientific support ship before being abandoned in South Georgia. Although efforts to restore and return the Viola to Hull were cancelled because of rising costs, a digital version will be displayed at Hull's renovated Maritime Museum. The shipyard's wider legacy includes vessels featured in Father Ted and a James Bond film, as well as the research ship William Scoresby, which supported El Niño studies.

Night-time shows return to Hull's Freedom Festival with low-cost entry, including a £1 suggested fee for large circus performances by Gorilla Circus. The festival will feature more than 100 events across the city, including family attractions, large-scale outdoor installations and indoor ticketed shows. Director Phil Hargreaves emphasises accessibility despite rising costs and highlights a theme of peace for this year’s programme.