Franklyn Bode Gibson asserted that the strapping relationship between the twinned cities of Hull, UK and Freetown was reinforced with much celebration during their recent official visit to Hull. (The Mayor of Freetown, His Worship Franklyn ‘Bode’ Gibson and his delegation.) The Freetown Mayor ascertained that the visits formed a part of Hull’s year-long celebration as UK City of Culture 2017.
Mayor Gibson emphasized that the celebration was awesome in UK and as a result of that he encouraged what he dubbed as ‘Freetonians and Sierra Leoneans’ to up to make the Hull-Freetown Freedom Week a remarkable one. As official guests of the Lord Mayor of Kingston-Upon-Hull and Admiral of the Humber, the Right Worshipful John Hewitt met with former UN Secretary General Kofi Anan (in Hull to deliver the Wilberforce Freedom lecture) and had the opportunity to participate in a number of cultural events during Hull’s 3 day Freedom Festival. This visit forms the backdrop to the Hull-Freetown 2017 ‘Freedom Week, which will take place in Freetown 21-31 October.
The Mayor of Freetown, inspired by the positive atmosphere of the Freedom Festival looks forward to such an event happening here in the future. “We want a festival like this one, which brings people together from all over the country ….to shake hands. It brings about unity and we see in Hull everyone behaving warmly with each other’. ()
One of the high points for the delegation was seeing Freetown Mix, a popular Sierra Leonean band based in Hull, performing on the main stage.
Prior to the officially launching of the Hull -Freetown Freedom week the British Council Country Director, Simon Ingram-Hill displayed two documentaries that revealed the immediate aftermath of the August 14 disaster, one of the documentaries was locally produced by the popular filmmaker Barmmy Boy and it titled- SINAVA {for Tomorrow}. Simon Ingram-Hill says that the weeklong celebration is expected to raise awareness on environmental issues in both Hull and Freetown cities but with much emphasis on Freetown city. Owing to the fact that the weeklong celebration will focus on exploring impact of modern life on the environment through film, graphic art and constructive panel discussions.
Simon Ingram-Hill, emphasized that the Freedom Festival was one of a number of highpoints in the Hull-Freetown 2017 programme.
