What's on

People’s Landscapes – Unearthing Passion and Protest

Performance Space

Developed out of their work at local National Trust properties with a connection to Peterloo, artists Grace Surman, Gary Winters and their children will lead a creative family workshop exploring ideas around collective action, democracy and children’s rights. Expect craft-based activities, discussion on what you think matters, personalised portraits and banging a drum. This commission […]

Prostest in the Surveillance State: The East German Jewish Dissident Stefan Heym

Performance Space

This talk traces strategies of civil disobedience in Cold War Eastern Germany through the case of the German Jewish dissident Stefan Heym. Born into a German-Jewish family in Chemnitz (now notorious for its recent outbreaks of Far Right violence) in 1913, Heym was an early sympathiser of the Communist Party. He fled from Nazi Germany in […]

Peterloo Film Screening

Performance Space

Join us for relaxed screenings of the Peterloo Film every month from June – August. The Peterloo Massacre was a defining moment in British democracy which also played a significant role in the founding of The Guardian newspaper. Written and directed by Mike Leigh, Peterloo is an epic portrayal of the events surrounding the 1819 […]

£3 – £8

Speaking Out!

Performance Space

Journalist Bob Dickinson introduces a selection from films made by the Workers Film Association, formerly based in Lucy Street, Hulme. The film clips show the diversity of the WFA’s interests, their commitment to the history of the Afro-Caribbean and South Asian communities, their response to political events of the 1980s and 90s, and the importance […]

£3

Ballads and Songs of Peterloo, with Dr Alison Morgan

Performance Space

Ballads and Songs of Peterloo by Dr Alison Morgan is based on her unique collection of more than seventy poems and ballads which highlight the outrage, grief, defiance and resolution felt by labouring-class people in the immediate aftermath of the Peterloo Massacre in which eighteen people were killed and more than 600 injured as they […]

Trace Your Peterloo People

Join us in a full day of discovery at our Peterloo focused genealogy open day.  Book a 30 minute 1-1 session with a member of the Manchester and Lancashire Family History Society (MLFHS) and delve into the wealth of resources to start you off on your own family tree, or help break through a brick […]

Queer

Performance Space

Manchester Histories are proud to present “Queer”, a platform showcasing some of the ways that LGBT+ communities and their allies have stood strong for protest, democracy and freedom of speech. We invite you to: hear the story of Manchester’s Clause 28 protest march, the history of one of the most important queer publications in Manchester, […]

Peterloo Event Day

Performance Space

The Manchester & Lancashire Family History Society host a special Peterloo Event Day. From 10.30am – 12pm, Ed Glinert, Manchester tour guide, will speak about Peterloo.  Ed has worked with Mike Leigh and also the great radical activist Paul Foot.  Ed has been talking, walking, reading, thinking, sleeping, writing, giving lectures and guided tours about […]

1819-1981 Exhibition

Performance Space

Linda Brogan, Excavating The Reno, who excavated the Reno cellar club in Moss Side MCR, and Manchester Histories have joined forces to present 1819 – 1981. This one day exhibition (running on Sat 15 June, Thurs 18 July and Tues 13 Aug) will tell the stories of the memoirs of police and communities from the 1981 […]

Peterloo: Witnesses to a Massacre

Performance Space

Join the authors of the verbatim graphic novel 'PETERLOO: Witnesses to a Massacre' for an illustrated, behind the scenes look into the research, writing and art that went into this historically accurate and visually vivid account of the 1819 massacre of pro democracy reformers from around the Greater Manchester region. 'This amazing artwork makes a […]

Saturday Spectacular

Media Lounge

Join us to make posters to mark the 200th anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre using pens, inks and quills. Join in with our board game challenge and much more. Free - please drop in

The Riot Act

Performance Space

Written by Rob Johnston. On August 12th 1842, just 23 years after The Peterloo Massacre, Lancashire cotton-workers again marched in protest at appalling pay and conditions. Reaching Preston’s Lune Street the protesters were confronted by the authorities and read The Riot Act. A gripping mix of tragedy and humour from the WINNER of BEST DRAMA […]

£5