EXETER RESPECT FESTIVAL 2024
Belmont Park, Sat 08 and Sun 09 June 2024

Exeter Respect Festival 2024 will once again return to Exeter’s Belmont Park marking the 27th anniversary of the first Respect Festival in Exeter in 1997 that brought communities together to celebrate their differences and commonalities.

Keep watching this space and out social media pages for details of our next events.

If you would like to volunteer your time to support Exeter Respect 2024 please click here.
If you are a performer or a band who would like to showcase your performance with us please click here.
If you are a charity, cause or stall holder that would like a space please click here.

RESPECT CINEMA, A SCREENING OF FILMS THAT CONNECT

The moving image can create a deep connection. Respect Cinema presents an hour of films that highlight inclusion, prejudice, community and change.

Showing at the Exeter Phoenix, the Respect Cinema screening has grown out of the ideals of the Exeter Respect Festival and draws on local films, that range from animation to interviews, to a musical comedy.

Respect Cinema started as a screening event at the Exeter Respect Festival. “When you’re at a festival, you don’t want to be ducking away into a dark room to watch some films,” the event organiser Dan Wiseman told D&CFilm. So this year the films will have a special place all of their own, at the Exeter Phoenix.

The screening will include Beanka, My Name is Darak, Home, Outsider, Between The Lines, and include a 15-minute edit of Us.

Connection

Beanka, by Mal Biele, is an animated story about identity, friends and being yourself. Home, by Jemma Cholawo is an improvised dance film about isolation, intense loneliness, and the human need for connection.

My Name Is Darak is from Dan’s Stories From The Street, a series of films about how any of us can fall through the cracks. Darak was training to be a Michelin-star chef at Michael Caines’ restaurant. But he was racially attacked, resulting in multiple fractures to his skull. What follows is a series of poor decisions and a life spiralling out of control.

Alexandru Dragan is showing his film Outsider. Alex told us: “Films have the power to humanize complex issues.” Between The Lines by Dom Lee is a musical short about finding your voice.

Hopes

Us is a film Dan is making and part of an ambitious project about imagining a better world and how we can achieve it. Dan aims to cross all kinds of boundaries to hear voices and hopes from a wide array of standpoints.

“I’ve got nearly 50 interviews,” he says. These include the chef Michael Caines, Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw, retired judges, old people, young people, people with disabilities, and from all different walks of life.

“My plan now is to speak to religious leaders, political leaders, and some celebrities,” says Dan, who wants to stimulate discussion and create a forum around the issues that are raised.

Respect Cinema is an ideal opportunity to start and share those conversations.

Platform

“Art has an important place in being a vocal platform and helping us to talk about what people feel and helping to change society for the better by putting those conversations and arguments out there,” says Dan.

“The main thing for me is to try and encourage more people to make films around these around issues of inclusion, community, respect and multiculturalism.”

Respect Cinema is at Studio 74 at the Exeter Phoenix on Monday 15 April.

ABOUT EXETER RESPECT

Exeter Respect is the city’s annual celebration of diversity where we use the performing and creative arts to engage the wider community in saying no to racism and all forms of prejudice. The Respect ethos is a simple one: racism and prejudice often spring from fear, and fear is often based on ignorance, so let’s overcome ignorance by getting to know one another and sharing not shunning our cultures. One of the best ways to get to know someone is to enjoy yourself with them, hence our celebratory event and adoption of the old Commission for Racial Equality slogan:

All Different, All Equal!

The first Exeter Respect festival took place in 1997 and there has been a celebration virtually every year since then. From 2003 to 2008 Exeter Respect’s biggest event was at Exeter Phoenix Arts Centre, but from 2009 to the present day our focus has been a giant two day festival in Belmont Park, with a footfall of around 20,000 people every year.

Exeter Respect returns to Belmont Park on Saturday 08 and Sunday 09 June 2024, we look forward to seeing you there.

EXETER RESPECT FESTIVAL 2023

For our 26th anniversary, Exeter Respect Festival 2023 was dedicated to all people who gave their lifetime to campaign for “diversity built Britain”, the NHS’s 75th and Windrush’s 75th anniversary.
Exeter Respect Festival 2023 marked the 26th anniversary of the first 1997 Respect Festival in Exeter, aimed at bringing communities together to celebrate its differences and commonalities. This year’s theme was “Diversity Built Britain”. Exeter Respect Festival 2023 returned to mark the 75th anniversary of NHS and the 75th anniversary of Windrush.

The festival was held live and in full at Exeter City Council’s public ground at Belmont Park from Saturday 10th June to Sunday 11th June. The doors were open to the public at 11:30 am and the festivities kicked off at midday on Saturday, finishing at 7pm and started again from 11am to 6:15pm on Sunday.

The festival featured a kaleidoscope of performances. The outdoor stages included renowned local band Revelation Roots on Saturday and international Senegal artist Batch Gueye on Sunday. There were many other outdoor activities and processions for people of all ages, as well as the opportunity to sample a variety of food, clothing, and handmade crafts from local communities and organisations.

The festival was alcohol free, however Bar Nova provided non-alcoholic cocktails. Due to the economic climate, a suggested entrance fee of £2 per day was charged, with under 16s admitted free of charge.

Exeter Respect’s launch took place in May 2023 at the Exeter Phoenix with a screening of the film The Wytches Vendetta, directed by John Fitzsimons. The film tells the story of a descendant of those responsible for the hanging of three women for witchcraft and ensuing karmic revenge. The film begins with a reprise of the events that led to the hanging of three women, Temperance Lloyd, Mary Trembles and Susannah Edwards, in 1682.Enhanced with dramatic imagination and dialogue the courtroom and hanging scenes are re-enacted using locations in Bideford, The Guildhall in Exeter, and the Castle. The setting is the present day Dartmoor where in a lay-by one of the descendants, a successful American businessman, is trying to seduce a young woman. She refuses, but suggests a local pub where there may be a room available for the night. He is thrilled. A lack of moral concerns, inherited from his forefathers, guides his decisions. His delight grows when he finds the pub full of women. But they may not be who they seem, and his life is about to change forever. We feel this film is inclusive and addresses some of the issues that we face in Britain today.

Our theme was Diversity built Britain. Following on from the film screening, the speaker, medical student Nabeel Khan, highlighted the relevance of this film to the theme. The film sparked a discussion on a variety of issues, including gender, the NHS, Windrush, and the future of young people in the face of climate change and environmental impact. The audience left Studio 74 at Exeter Phoenix with the hope that next year will maintain the same format of a film followed by a panellist speaking afterwards.

We are honoured to have people coming from around Devon and beyond to Exeter specifically for the festival, and delighted that we have kept the festival alcohol-free. Exeter Respect Festival is unique. Its underlying message has not changed since it started in 1997 and it is the biggest annual celebration of diversity, equality, and human rights in the Southwest.

Devon County Council commented “It was a joy to experience such wonderful community spirit. The message of this excellent event was “all different, all equal”. It was humbling to meet community leaders and volunteers, who are embracing diversity and working together for the benefit of all.”

We would like to thank our communities, volunteers and sponsors for their dedication to the festival

Dr Suaad Genem-George
Managing Director
Exeter Respect CIC
“All Different All Equal”