About

Refugee Week is the world’s largest arts and culture festival celebrating the contributions, creativity, and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary. For its 2025 edition, titled  Community as a Superpower, Bradford 2025 is proud to take part in a vibrant programme of events that bring people together. 

What's On:  

• 19 – 22 June 2025 – Moomins 80: What Will We Do Without Exile? | Artist:  Basel Zaraa | Step inside a lush world within a refugee tent in this immersive, multi-sensory installation. 
• 20 June 2025 – The Big Blue Bradford House | Presented by:  Stand and Be Counted | Join Stand & Be Counted, the UK’s first theatre company of sanctuary, to mark Refugee Week and celebrate Moomins 80. 
• 20 – 21 June 2025 – Happy Baby! | Presented by:  Stand and Be Counted | Two special sessions of sensory play for under-4s and their grown-ups at The Beacon in Bowling Park. 
• 21 June 2025 – Penguin (Ticketed) | Artists:  Hamzeh Al Hussien & Amy Golding | One man’s extraordinary journey from Syria to England. “Be proud. Be who you are. Be more Penguin.” 
• 22 June 2025 – Peace Picnic: Bowling | Presented by:  The Peace Museum | The Peace Museum hosts the second of five free gatherings to celebrate peace, protest, and community. 
• 22 June 2025 – Intercultured Festival: Connecting Communities (Ticketed) | Family activities celebrating Refugee Week, aimed at building bridges between communities. 

About Refugee Week 2025 

What Will We Do Without Exile?  is commissioned by Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture and Counterpoints Arts, supported by Moomin Characters. 

The Big Blue Bradford House and Happy Baby! are co-produced by Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture and Stand & Be Counted, the Associate Company of Welcome and Sanctuary. 

>> Explore more events in the UK City of Culture as part of the #Bradford2025 celebration.