The WILD day in is now just a few days away, scheduled to start at 3pm (GMT) on Saturday 11th July 2020. It’s an online festival for and run by disabled people. We want to show how there is solidarity within the disability community during this dreadful period while highlighting some of the best talent out there.

We have an incredible lineup in store for you which will be streamed on our custom-made platform that will include British Sign Language and simultaneous subtitles. We want our festival to be accessible to as many people as possible. And best of all, it’s all free! All you have to do is go onto our website (www.wildaboutculture.com) on 11th July and enjoy the show. There’ll be plenty of places for you to chat and interact with each other on the platform meaning you’ll not just be an audience member but part of the show. 

The day will start with “how to” tutorial sessions from blind pro-skateboarder Dan Mancina and wheelchair motocross star Lily Rice.You’ll be able to pick up some moves from Martin Ridley, a JuJitsu black belt usually found in a dojo teaching his students how to flip over a foe at his All Abilities Martial Arts classes.

Next up is an interview with punk poet Penny Pepper, who is not only a brilliant author but a devoted disability rights activist. She’s just as likely to be protesting outside Parliament with a banner as at an awards ceremony receiving a prize for her witty and candid books.  

Penny Pepper’s First in the World Somewhere

There will then be some interviews with Robin Wilson-Beattie, a committed diversity and inclusion educator and Twitch gamer Alex Walls who is a pro when it comes to playing Apex Legends.

Robin Wilson-Beattie

If you weren’t entertained enough by now, we’ll also be streaming an interview with the creators of Hot Octopuss, an accessible sex toy company.

The day will be peppered with performances from some of the best artists and musicians in the country. 

Spoken word artist Potent Whisper who is “changing the world, one rhyme at a time” is first up, then electronic extraordinaire Lia Mice who headlined the Islington Assembly Hall last year. 

Potent Whisper ft Floetic Lara

We’ll also see performances from storyteller Dr Naomi Lawson Jacobs who specialises in participatory user-led stories. The final few slots see a beautiful live performance from the folk musician Tilly Moses and the day will end with a set from the world-famous John McClure from the Reverend and the Makers. 

Tilly Moses: If Humans Were Houses

Other top-level speakers and performers include comedy legend Rosie Jones, the People’s History Museum, Access the Outdoors Guide, Project Impactive and the Fight Continues zine

Rosie Jones at the Apollo

You’ll be accompanied on your festival journey with fun animations which will pop up to give you a little more information and history about what the performers are talking about and give you links to resources so you can learn more about the things you might be hearing for the first time. Look out for disability rights activist Vic Finkelstein

You’ll have the renowned broadcaster Mik Scarlet compering throughout the day who’ll make sure there isn’t a dull moment when you’re waiting for the next act.

Mik said this about WILD day in: 

“I had to get involved with WILD because an event marking World Independent Living Day with a cross section of disabled people performing and showing off their skills couldn’t be missed. Being able to live as you wish, choosing who supports you and what they do, having the ability to build your own future path is something we all deserve, and the list of disabled people appearing at WILD prove what disabled people can do given the chance.”

“I wanted to take part as I hope the day inspires other disabled people to try something new. It’s going to be a huge honour to introduce all of the people appearing, doing my compere thing and bigging them up.”

“It’s an event you can’t afford to miss. A fun day packed with great disabled people highlighting what a talented community we really are. See you all there.”

Mik Scarlet, our compere for the day

Our festival founder Andy Greene, a life-long disabled rights activist, had this to say about the upcoming event:

“Myself and the festival co-founder Gareth Owen have been working all hours, every day for weeks  preparing for the festival. We’ve already had to add an extra 30 minutes to the event, which is excellent, and it’s to provide more time to showcase disabled peoples’ projects. It’s going to be great to shine a light on that. We’ve had more musicians, artists and speakers joining us in the last few weeks and everything is shaping up really nicely.” 

“Anything that brings us together and gets us talking to each other is positive. This festival will act as a springboard to having a bigger conversation about how we can build new organisations to bring our ideas to life. We are trying to be as inclusive and accessible as possible and our festival will connect with the Independent Movement’s history and try to build on that going forwards.”

More information:

— WILD stands for World Independent Living Day and our festival marks the launch of WILD CIC, a new organisation which looks to promote Independent Living as a tool to transform society into something that is far more inclusive than it is today.

– The Independent Living Movement philosophy emerged in the United States in the 1960s and is now enshrined in Article 19 of the UN ’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

– Independent Living goes against the charity and medical ways of viewing individual impairments (whether physical, sensory or cognitive) and instead proposes that society must be re-organised so disabled people are equal and able to practice their right to self-determination. Further details can be found here: www.enil.eu (European Network on Independent Living).

– The original festival was organised for 5th May 2020 (European Independent Living Day) at a venue in central London but had to be postponed and transferred to a purely digital platform due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It will now be streamed from 3pm to 6pm on www.wildaboutculture.com 

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