Laura Dia

BlackFest brings its iconic Rhythms Night to Bristol for its eighth year, connecting Liverpool and Bristol through history, heritage, live music, culture and conversation. Wednesday 28 October 2026 The Jam Jar, Bristol The evening begins with the Shore to Shore Exchange, exploring the shared histories and experiences of Liverpool and Bristol, two port cities shaped by enslavement, colonialism, migration, resilience and cultural exchange. Malik Al Nasir is an author and PhD candidate in History at the University of Cambridge, St Catharine’s College, and an Associate of Cambridge Digital Humanities. His research explores the legacies of enslavement and colonialism, reparative justice and the decolonisation of archives. He is the author of Searching for My Slave Roots (2025) and Letters to Gil (2021), Co-Founder of Barriers to Black Academia and Founder of the Sandbach Tinne Project. He is also Project Manager of the Connector Project, in partnership with National Museums Liverpool and Lloyd’s Register Foundation. Roger Griffith MBE is a Bristol-based writer, social activist and creative producer, and former Executive Chair and broadcaster of Ujima Radio. For more than 30 years, his work has explored race, inclusion and social inequality. He is the author of My American Odyssey: From the Windrush to the White House and has received the Bristol Lord Mayor’s Medal, an MBE and an honorary doctorate in Arts. He is currently developing First Born Second: Children of the Windrush Era, an Arts Council England-supported project exploring the legacy of the Windrush Generation. The cultural exchange will be followed by live music spanning Hip-Hop, Alternative R&B, neo-soul, reggae, jazz, acoustic and soulful sounds, bringing together artists from Bristol and Liverpool.