Salaam Festival brings an inspiring weekend of art, conversation and music to Contact

Hosted by celebrated Birmingham-based spoken word artist Amerah Saleh, and Manchester’s very own poet and director Elmi Ali, Boiling Point invites audiences on both days to gather around the “the kitchen table or living room” for a unique discussion that explores the politics, fissures and optimistic possibilities of our world.

Designed as a cosy space for everyone to see, hear and share their truths freely. This unique talk will span tender reflections, impassioned debate and beyond in a homely environment, allowing everyone present to be both audience and participant.

Reserve your seat for the event on Sun 2 Nov HERE, and book your spot for the event on Sat 1 Nov below.

Tracing an unbroken musical lineage that charts more than 800 years of mystical tradition, Songs of the Sufi offers a meditative exploration of Qawwali, the devotional music form of the Indian Subcontinent associated with
13th-century Sufi seminaries, which is still enjoyed globally today.

Combining live performance, rare archival material and illuminating historical insight, this event reveals the art form’s roots in Sufi seminaries and its enduring message of divine love. Guided by commentary from renowned musicologist Dr. Katherine Schofield, audiences will encounter the subtle power of this spellbinding genre, its spiritual etiquette and its universal resonance that continues to unite people across faiths and cultures.

Q&A will follow with the director, Kamran Anwar.

A highlight of the festival programme, Dhīkr unites decorated international artists Hāmza Bouzhār, Maryām Al-Säeīd, a Turkish Sufi duo performance by Muhammed Recai Çiftci and Mehmet Zahit Şerefoğlu, and the extraordinary headliner Büşra Kayıkçı for an evening that celebrates remembrance and connection through rhythm, movement and melody. Each artist draws on deep spirituality, blending voice, instrumental performance and devotional practice to create a shared space of reflection and renewal.

Making her highly anticipated Manchester debut, Istanbul-based pianist and composer Kayıkçı performs a selection of pieces that showcase her uniquely multifaceted background in architecture, ballet and design with a refined musical aesthetic, in which structure and fluidity intertwine in breathtaking harmony.

On the Sunday afternoon, award-winning filmmaker Abrar Hussain presents One Night in Al-Aqsa, an evocative, intimate and visually captivating portrait of the revered Jerusalem compound during Laylatul Qadr (the Night of Power), the holiest night on the Islamic Calendar.

Through mesmerising aerial footage alongside personal stories from locals who live and work inside its walls, Hussain weaves a tender tapestry of faith, resilience and community, moving between everyday reality and spiritual fervour when hundreds of thousands of worshipers gather on the sacred occasion.

Closing the festival on a powerful and poetic note, Düa brings together Palestinian oud virtuoso Reem Anbar with Pakistani vocalist Imran Rahat Ali Khan and party for an evening steeped in heritage, liberation and transcendence.

Anbar begins the specially curated performance with an entrancing fusion of oud, tabla and lyrical composition that channels the spirit of freedom and endurance, before Khan delivers a stirring homage to his legendary predecessor, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, leading audiences on a temptestuous journey of migration through rare devotional songs that bridge ancient poetry, intricate melody and modern sensibility.