Gospel Festival’s message of Hope

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The sounds of laughter and song filled the streets as hundreds of Gospel music entertainers and artists performed during the Festival of Hope.   

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The jam packed day kicked off with a colourful parade weaving from the Anglican Cathedral and surrounding streets to Hope Street. Church congregations throughout Merseyside joined together to create this carnival procession of flags, banners and costumes.

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“One of the banners read ‘God loves Liverpool ’. He certainly must, because the forecast was for rain and yet the sun shone out of the sky all day” said spokesperson Muireann Kyeyune of Liverpool Lighthouse.

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Helping Hope Street to live up to its name, organisers wished the festival to send out a strong message of hope and faith. To reinforce this, dignitaries and celebrities of the city joined Bishop James Jones and the  two deans of the Cathedrals in their symbolic walk from either end of Hope Street. The Mayor of Liverpool, Cllr. Steven Rotherham, released doves to mark the occasion.

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All along the street there were street entertainers, dancers, market stalls, food stands and live performances from mini stages. Throughout the day the big names in Gospel music from around the world blasted out hits from hip-hop to blues and jazz.

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International artists from countries including, , , , and the played with musicians and singers such as The Band with No Name, Love and Joy Gospel Choir, S.O., Chan and Voices in Praise.

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Festival favourites, Pacific Spirit, a dance troupe made up of members from the South Pacific islands of , Samoa and stomped out their traditional warrior dance for audiences outside the Metropolitan Cathedral.

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The street party ended with two concerts, SPACE, at the Anglican Cathedral and an intimate concert at Metropolitan Cathedral hosted by BBC’s Wayne Clarke. This special concert attracted over 700 people and featured American jazz artist Toscha Comeux, the Metropolitan Cathedral Choristers, Norway ’s Stavanger Gospel Choir and Polish blues singer Magdalena Piskorczyk among others.

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Muireann Kyeyune added, “We hope that people left today with a belly full of hope and joy and the catchy gospel music humming around in their heads.”