
A Toast to the People: Francesca Beard & Joelle Taylor
Francesca Beard and Joelle Taylor share their works for A Toast to the People’s powerful finale.
Join Francesca Beard and Joelle Taylor for an electric night of performance poetry and spoken word in the International Festival’s Old College Quad venue. Both artists have a strong human-focused repertoire of work, which promises to get audiences thinking about ourselves, our place in the world and our relationship to others.
Francesca Beard is a performance poet whose research-informed work is inspired by emerging knowledge about ourselves and the universe. She is a current Associate Artist with All Change and was previously poet-in-residence at The Barbican, BBC White City and The Tower of London, amongst others. Her stories about what it means to be human touch a raw nerve and she has represented contemporary UK literature with the British Council in 23 different countries, from Azerbaijan to Bangkok and Zimbabwe.
For this A Toast to the People event, Beard is joined by Joelle Taylor. Joelle Taylor is the author of four collections of poetry. Her newest collection, C+NTO & Othered Poems, was the subject of a Radio 4 arts documentary Butch. She is a co-curator and host of Out-Spoken Live resident at the Southbank Centre, and the current editor of Out-Spoken Press.
A Toast to the People brings together two spoken word artists, each performing their own set of performance poetry that includes a specially commissioned piece inspired by Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson’s ‘A Toast to the People’. Following their sets, the two artists take part in an exclusive discussion about their work and the pervading issues and themes of today.
Please note that Rafeef Ziadah was originally scheduled to perform on this date. We are very grateful to Joelle Taylor for stepping in to replace her.
In partnership with Edinburgh International Book Festival
Made possible through the PLACE programme
Joelle Taylor
Nadine Aisha Jassat Host
Booking guidance
All ticket prices are inclusive of fees. In line with our commitment to environmental sustainability, we would encourage you to opt for electronic tickets, however, if you choose to receive your tickets in the post you will be charged £2 for postage. If you are using e-tickets, please download them in advance of your visit so that they are available offline and ensure that your phone is sufficiently charged.
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Concessions
Under-18s are entitled to a 50% discount. There is a 30% discount for disabled people, recipients of pension credit, universal credit, employment and support allowance or jobseeker's allowance, art workers, full-time students and 18-25 year-olds . Subject to availability and may exclude top-price tickets. Proof of eligibility may be requested at venues.
Ticket prices may vary from previously published prices.
Your safety
The Festival will follow Scottish Government and City of Edinburgh Council health and safety recommendations at all times to ensure the safety of our audiences, artists and team. Please continue to check our Visit Us page for the latest COVID-19 safety measures at the International Festival.
Ticket exchanges & refunds
If you or anyone in your household has had any recent COVID-19 symptoms, please stay at home for everyone’s safety. If you are unable to attend any event at the 2022 Edinburgh International Festival for any reason related to COVID-19, we will refund the full cost of the ticket to the lead booker. Refunds must be requested at least 24 hours in advance of the performance. Postage fees are non-refundable.
For extra peace of mind, we are continuing to offer Ticket Protection via Secure My Booking, which allows you to recoup 100% of the money paid for your tickets if you are unable to attend an event that hasn’t been cancelled or rescheduled. This optional extra costs £1.50 per ticket and is available at the time of booking. For more information, please visit securemybooking.com
Ticket exchanges may be available for a different performance of the same event, subject to availability. Ticket exchanges cost £1.50 per ticket, as well as any difference in ticket price that may occur as a result of the ticket exchange.