Just Festival

Welcome to Just Festival 2022 I am delighted that we are able to bring you the first fully live and in person Just Festival since the pandemic. Just Festival is Edinburgh’s human rights and social justice festival, and in 2022 is focused on two main themes; the mental and social effects of lockdown, particularly on artists and the arts, and conflict resolution and peacebuilding.

From 8th to 29th August, the sanctuary of St John’s Church, west end, will host an exhibition of “Art in Lockdown”, featuring a selection of works created during lockdown by a range of Scottish-based visual artists including Catherine King, Shona Young, Lesley Ann Derks and Clare Yarrington. Each Friday lunchtime there will be an informal “Meet the Artists” session where visitors can chat to the artists and find out more about their work and creative practices, and the effect of Covid and lockdown to their practice.

The festival will also host a varied music programme. We are excited to have partnered with Live Music Now Scotland, an organisation founded by legendary violinist Yehuidi Menuin which gives outstanding young artists the opportunity of performing at the start of their careers and enables high-quality live music to reach a broad range of people, especially those who wouldn’t normally have access to it. Each Thursday will see a free lunchtime concert with musicians from the scheme. These three concerts will be given by saxophone and piano duo Matt Carmichael and Fergus McCreadie; clarsach player Siannie Moodie and baroque duo Cordes en Ciel. We also look forward to welcoming back Nevis Ensemble, to perform live for the first time, over two evenings, Lochan Sketches, a series of short pieces inspired by Scottish bodies of water which was originally commissioned for online performance during lockdown.

St John’s Church’s own Director of Music, David Goodenough, will perform a free lunchtime recital of music for solo organ on the church’s 1901 Willis organ, and the festival’s music programme will culminate with a very special performance of Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, given by a newly formed quartet of early career instrumentalists who met on Birmingham Contemporary Music Group’s talent development programme NEXT: Beth Nichol (clarinet); Joe Howson (piano); Olivia Jago (violin) and Rosie Spinks (cello).

A key part of Just Festival’s August programme is always the conversation series, and this year will see these being held once again in person, in St John’s Church. These public facing debates feature prominent speakers including Derek Mitchell, CEO of Citizens’ Advice Scotland, Dr Lesley Orr, Honorary Fellow in the Centre for Theology and Public Issues, University of Edinburgh, and Tommy Sheppard MP. They cover topics as wide ranging as the role of gender in war, the current cost of living crisis and the effects of lockdown on the arts. All conversations will be free to attend, and will be live-streamed in order to allow as many people to engage with these topics.

Of course, none of this could happen without our funders, partners and sponsors, and I’d very much like to thank St John’s Church; The Diocese of Edinburgh; the Scottish Episcopal Church; the Centre for Theological and Philosophical Studies at New College, University of Edinburgh; Arts and Business Scotland; Nimar Trust; Live Music Now Scotland and the Just Festival Board of Trustees for their financial and practical support given to this year’s festival.

I very much hope you can join us for Just Festival 2022.
Miranda Heggie, Festival Manager