Happy New Year, everyone! We hope you’re off to a great start in 2025!
We thoroughly enjoyed watching ITV’s National Lottery’s New Year’s Eve Big Bash earlier this week! The programme celebrated the National Lottery’s 30th anniversary by showcasing highlights from the live event held at the OVO Arena Wembley in London on 4th December 2024. Among the moments captured was a glimpse of Deaffest’s sign and a message from our PR Liaison Officer, Lou Parrott!
This special event, hosted by Vernon Kay and Fleur East, was a heartfelt thank-you to National Lottery players. It featured incredible stories of people who made a difference in 2024 thanks to National Lottery funding. Spectacular performances by Cirque du Soleil, Craig David, Olly Alexander, and others added to the evening’s excitement. The event also revealed the final two inspirational game changers of the year, completing the list of remarkable individuals honoured before Christmas, including Deaffest Co-founders Nikki Stratton and Marilyn Willrich.
Sharing more details from our recent Instagram story post: the programme concluded with people sharing their hopes for 2025. Lou was among them, expressing a wish to see more Deaf individuals working in mainstream TV, film, and theatre.
Here’s hoping that Lou’s wish comes true, especially for Deaf individuals to step into leading roles!
What a great way to end 2024! If you have not yet seen #NYEBigBash programme, check it out here!
As with previous years, the Deaffest team have experienced countless memorable and proud moments in 2024. This year has been truly extraordinary, marked by the celebration of Deaffest’s 15th Anniversary and the incredible recognition of both Deaffest Co-founders and Festival Directors as one of The National Lottery’s Game Changers, alongside other amazing events. The unwavering support from everyone involved in Deaffest has been truly inspiring – from those who joined us to celebrate #TuneintoDeaffests15th Edition, to the likes, loves, and heartfelt messages shared online. It’s wonderful to witness Deaffest and its mission gaining even greater recognition, continuing to grow, and showcasing to the world why it holds such vital importance.
We hope you enjoy Deaffest’s end-of-year newsletter here!
In July, Nikki had the pleasure of introducing an award at Festival Clin d’Oeil 2024. Teaming up with Ryan Commerson, Corporate Strategist for Sorenson Communications from Colorado, Nikki co-presented the Best Actress Award. They then welcomed Marvel’s first Deaf superhero, Lauren Ridloff, to the stage to present the award to Émilie Rigaud!
A huge congratulations to Émilie and all the other winners celebrated at this incredible event.
“Presenting to a large international D/deaf audience at the festival was both thrilling and nerve-wracking! Inspired by Greta Gerwig, the Director of Hollywood’s ‘Barbie’ movie, Ryan and I embraced the pink theme to draw attention to the underrepresentation of women — particularly D/deaf women — in the film industry, especially in directing and producing roles. We aim to celebrate and empower D/deaf female professionals while shedding light on the barriers they encounter in the field. True courage lies in pursuing your dreams, even when others insist they are impossible.” Nikki Stratton
Deaffest 