Hello and welcome to this week's Sunday Chops. It's Mickey again, hoping you're not

melting as a big red heater in the sky, does it sing and then some. Weather chat, you're

welcome.

This week I got to have a natter with two incredible women, to Greed Shooker Bithoso and

Alia Alzogby, who have been working their tails off, putting together this year's Shabak

Festival. Shabak means window and this extraordinary festival is a UK's largest by annual celebration

of contemporary Arab culture, bringing together new and unexpected voices and established

artists to London and indeed other parts of the UK. It returns through its seventh edition

this summer and runs from June 23rd to July 9th. To Greed and Alia are the festivals

joint CEOs and they join me to chat about what to expect from this enormous celebration

of Arab artists, creativity, innovations and diversity, as well as how it's hard not to program

women, why it's so important to share and celebrate Arab cultures across communities and

some of the challenges of putting together such an enormous borders bust in festival.

The Shabak program is really genuinely very impressive and features a few standard issue

favours, including the marvelous Lisa looks and Hannah Khalil. Check it out and get your tickets

at Shabak.co.uk and Shabak is S.H.U.B.B.A.K.

Hello, I'm joined on the Zoom by Tagrid Shooker Bithoso and Alia Alzogby,

joint CEOs of the biennial Shubak Festival, a celebration of Arab art and creativity

back for its seventh edition from June 23rd to July 9th. Tagrid, hello.

Hello, thank you so much for having us. Thanks for coming on and Alia, hello.

Hello, hi. Alia's my twin, we're both in bright orange jumpers bringing the vibes.

Well the sunshine's keeping itself away from us so yeah why not Maggie, we'll bring the sunshine in.

...