Manchester Histories Festival takes place Thursday 4 June to Monday 8 June 2020. The main hub for the festival will be at Manchester Central Library but your event could take place in any other venue across Greater Manchester. Your event can be a talk, performance, debate, film screening, discussion, exhibition or intervention around the themes of Celebrate – Learn – Challenge.
There are two ways to get involved (deadline for both applications is Friday 27 March 2020):
1. You can put on an event as part of Celebrating Alf’s Act, 50 Years of Disabled People’s Rights.
Manchester Histories Festival 2020 will mark the 50-year anniversary of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act (CSDPA) 1970. This landmark legislation was pioneered by the late Lord Alf Morris, who subsequently became Britain’s first minister for disabled people. Often described at the Magna Carta for disabled people, this was the first disability rights legislation anywhere in the world and laid the foundations for the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the Equality Act 2010.
Alf Morris was born and bred in Manchester and served as an MP for Wythenshawe. Throughout his lifetime, he campaigned tirelessly for the rights of disabled people.
Manchester Histories Festival 2020 is a collaborative programme between The University of Manchester, the family of the late Lord Morris of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University, University of Manchester’s Students’ Union, the TUC (Manchester), Manchester City Council and the Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People.
In 2021 People’s History Museum will be exploring the theme of disabled people’s rights and activism through a year of events, exhibitions and learning sessions. Manchester Histories Festival 2020 will mark the start of this exciting programme of activity.
Applications are open to all – individuals, organisations, health professional, researchers, historians, campaigners, academics, artists, musicians – anyone with a connection or interest in disabled people’s rights.
To apply for putting on an events as part of Celebrating Alf’s Act, go here: https://manchesterhistories.co.uk/getinvolved/putonanevent
2. You can be part of Manchester Histories Celebration Day on Sunday 7 June 2020 at the wonderful and historic Whitworth Art Gallery, Institute and Park.
Exhibition stands celebrate and share the rich and diverse histories and heritage of Greater Manchester. Celebration Day is open to all and does not have to fit into the themes of the events happening at Manchester Central Library.
Past exhibitors have included The John Rylands Library, Royal Northern College of Music, Friends of Platt Fields, Heaton Park Tramway, Hungarian English Cultural Society, Peterloo Memorial Campaign and Historic England, to name but a few.
To apply for the Celebration Day go here: https://manchesterhistories.co.uk/getinvolved/celebrationday
The deadline for both applications is Friday 27 March 2020.