Free State Festival

Free State Festival The Free State Festival is a celebration of film, music, art & ideas in Lawrence, KS.

It was a beautiful Wednesday night on Mass St! Thank you City of Lawrence, Kansas for the serendipitous installation of ...
06/04/2026

It was a beautiful Wednesday night on Mass St! Thank you City of Lawrence, Kansas for the serendipitous installation of a Free State Fest banner between two of our faves- Watkins Museum of History & Sylas and Maddy's Homemade Ice Cream.

We are honored to host the Kansas premiere of Nine Little Indians directed by Shannon Kring and executive produced by Le...
06/03/2026

We are honored to host the Kansas premiere of Nine Little Indians directed by Shannon Kring and executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio on June 27 at 5pm at the Lawrence Arts Center. This wrenching, vital documentary tells the story of a family’s decades-long fight for acknowledgement, justice, and healing after the abuses they suffered in the American Indian boarding school system.

📣 Special guests Shannon Kring and Pat Charbonneau will be in person for the Q&A, so please don't miss this one day only screening! Haskell students & faculty, use promo code: HASKELL for free tickets OR bring your ID and get your tickets at the door the day of the show.

LEARN MORE >>> https://freestatefestival.org/event/nine-little-indians/

Thank you to festival sponsors:
City of Lawrence, Kansas - Municipal Government
Kansas Public Radio
Lawrence Business Magazine

American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez makes its Kansas premiere on June 27, 12pm at the Lawrence Arts Center! Open...
06/02/2026

American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez makes its Kansas premiere on June 27, 12pm at the Lawrence Arts Center! Opening remarks will be shared by Neill Esquibel-Kennedy, faculty in American Studies at KU and the Chicanx/Latinx program.

From migrant farmworker to revolutionary artist, Luis Valdez changed American culture. In the 1960s, his El Teatro Campesino performed on flatbed trucks and helped mobilize workers to win the first farmworker union contract. His Zoot Suit was the first Chicano play on Broadway and he went on to make the breakout film, La Bamba.

Get your tickets now and learn about this Mexican American auteur!
🎟 https://freestatefestival.org/event/american-pachuco-the-legend-of-luis-valdez/

Wow, Lawrence - Free State Festival All Access passes are officially SOLD OUT! Not to worry, individual tickets for many...
06/01/2026

Wow, Lawrence - Free State Festival All Access passes are officially SOLD OUT! Not to worry, individual tickets for many events are still available. Check out the full schedule at freestatefestival.org for the full slate of films screening June 22-28 and we'll see you at the movies!

Friday, June 26 at is all about the music! 🎶 Singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock takes the Lawrence Arts Center stage no...
05/29/2026

Friday, June 26 at is all about the music! 🎶 Singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock takes the Lawrence Arts Center stage not once, but TWICE thanks to our friends at Lawrence Public Library , Love Garden Sounds, and eighth street taproom .

📌 6/26 6:30pm Robyn Hitchcock in Conversation is presented by the Lawrence Public Library's 780 Series and is FREE to the public. Pre-registration is required.

📌6/26 8:30pm Robyn Hitchcock in Concert will full band is $25 General Admission.

The Raven Book Store will be on site with copies of Robyn's latest book, Stranded in the Future, a memoir about "the formation of his seminal 1970s band the Soft Boys, and the obsessions that fueled his early creative output."

🎟 Reserve your tickets now for both events: https://freestatefestival.org

Breaking news! This year’s poster was designed by Lawrence artist Matthew Lord. Fully embracing “The Revolution Will B...
05/28/2026

Breaking news! This year’s poster was designed by Lawrence artist Matthew Lord. Fully embracing “The Revolution Will Be at the Movies” theme, Matthew’s stunning artwork captures images from this year’s film selections and harkens to critical moments in historical struggles for independence.

We are honored to present a screening of The Return of the Sacred Red Rock accompanied by the short documentary, Healing...
05/28/2026

We are honored to present a screening of The Return of the Sacred Red Rock accompanied by the short documentary, Healing Ribbons: One Stitch at a Time on June 25 at 6pm. The films will be accompanied by pre-show skirt/shirt fashion walk by the Healing Ribbons team and filmmakers from both films will be on hand for a post-show Q&A!

Thank you to the Spencer Museum of Art for supporting this special event, to festival sponsors: Kansas Public Radio , Lawrence Business Magazine , KU Film and Media Studies and grant funders: National Endowment for the Arts and City of Lawrence, Kansas - Municipal Government .

We are so proud to welcome filmmaker Boots Riley back to the Free State Festival with his latest film, I Love Boosters! ...
05/27/2026

We are so proud to welcome filmmaker Boots Riley back to the Free State Festival with his latest film, I Love Boosters! Boots's new comedy has been called “a wickedly clever skewering of the moral rot at the center of the fashion industry delivered with enough vision to make your eyes hurt" on RogerEbert.com. A groundbreaking artist in cinema, music and theatre, Boots is a Lawrence favorite and this will be a must see festival moment on June 24 - 6:30pm at Lawrence Arts Center!

Thank you to event sponsors:
KU Film and Media Studies
KU African and African-American Studies
Hall Center for the Humanities

And festival sponsors:
Kansas Public Radio
Lawrence Business Magazine

Exciting news: the opening night film of on June 22 is The Arab by Malek Bensmail! This brand new Algerian co-producti...
05/26/2026

Exciting news: the opening night film of on June 22 is The Arab by Malek Bensmail! This brand new Algerian co-production recently premiered at the Rotterdam International Film Festival and is being made available to us in special arrangement due to Lawrence being the home base of the Algerian soccer team. And thanks to our friends at the Lawrence Public Library, this film will be FREE admission at Liberty Hall!

FUN FACT: Filmmaker Malek Bensmail also made the acclaimed documentary: The Battle of Algiers, A Film Within History.

The Battle of Algiers screens on June 23 at the Lawrence Arts Center. Don't miss this opportunity to learn about Algerian history and culture through the art of cinema this summer!

We are so excited to help welcome TEAM ALGERIA to Lawrence as their World Cup home base! We will have a special Algerian...
02/19/2026

We are so excited to help welcome TEAM ALGERIA to Lawrence as their World Cup home base! We will have a special Algerian film spotlight at this year’s as well as lots of other art & cultural tie-ins for June 24-28. Stay tuned for all the details coming soon! ⚽🎥

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940 New Hampshire Street
Lawrence, KS
66044

Telephone

+17858432787

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