A York festival has been recognised with special Sanctuary award.
York International Shakespeare Festival has been acknowledged with a Sanctuary in the Arts award from the national organisation City of Sanctuary.
City of Sanctuary recognises and encourages organisations and communities providing welcome, support and opportunity to people seeking sanctuary in the UK.
The International Shakespeare Festival gained this recognition through its work over several years with displaced people in the city, primarily those from Ukraine and those involved with Refugee Action York.
This award follows the recent Schools of Sanctuary award to Fishergate School, York.
Festival director Philip Parr said: “Shakespeare speaks to people across the world, providing a means to protest injustice and oppression; his is a voice that cannot be silenced. We are proud to learn from and work with people from these communities.”
Rev Paul Wordsworth, co-ordinator of York City of Sanctuary, who championed the award, added: “We’re delighted that this award has been confirmed. Congratulations to all those involved in the management of the Festival, which has been successfully running in York for over a decade.”
Since 2015, the Festival has welcomed artists and scholars from across Europe and further afield to present work in York – productions of Shakespeare, pieces by his contemporaries, and performances derived from his plays.
The relationship with Ukraine began in 2023 with a production from Molodyy Theatre of Kyiv, and continued in 2024 with a visit by actors from the National Theatre of Ivano Frankivsk, in the west of the country.
This year the Festival will welcome back performers from Ivano Frankivsk to perform Codename Othello, a play completed specially for the event by the Ukrainian playwright Olga Annenko.
2026 will also see it continue its relationship with York’s exciting Ukrainian theatre group, D.Space, who are presenting new work.
The 2026 York International Shakespeare Festival runs from April 21 to May 3 at York St John University, Theatre@41 Monkgate, The Yorkshire Museum and Friargate Theatre – with performances from Georgia, Ukraine, Romania, the USA and across the UK, alongside talks and exhibitions.
Programme highlights are listed on the festival website.
