The theme of this year's festival is Migration and Cultural Identity. Migration has always been a dynamic feature of North-East society and history – Migrants from Germany, Ireland, Yemen and so many other places have contributed to our arts, languages, literatures and politics even when those voices are hidden from history.

Movement is a fundamental aspect of what it is to be human and the way that movement shapes our identity challenges any notion of an unchanging and static sense of who we are.

We hope the festival gives you an insight into a range of cultures and an understanding of the changing nature of identity.