Even while Bexley Square gets a posh apartment makeover, the annual Salford May Day rally will be taking place there, beginning at 10am on Saturday 2nd May, followed by a march into Manchester to join its May Day rally and town centre parade which begins at Piccadilly Gardens at 11:30am.
The marches are followed by a massive May Day Festival at the Mechanics Institute, beginning at noon and going on until late. It features a whole floor full of stalls featuring trade unions and campaigns, films (Still the Enemy Within, about the 1984-85 miners' strike, and Pride, the story of gays supporting the miners); talks and workshops ranging in subjects from Palestine and Cuba to the Battle Against Welfare Reform, TTIP and Fracking. Manchester and Salford NUJ will also be presenting Journalists At War on reporting and being a victim of conflicts.
From noon until 3:30pm there'll be an exhibition on the Miners' Strike by the Irwell Valley Mining Project. There's a also a chance to write a protest song and play within two hours and then perform it with top creatives Cathy Crabb, Noreen Kershaw and Carol Donaldson, as a People's Assembly presentation.
From 5:30pm-6:30pm a rally will take place with speakers from various trade unions and the Cuban Ambassador. And that is followed by music via the Open Voice Community Choir, Clare Mooney and Bug Punk, with Tayo Aluko performing the songs of Paul Robeson. There's a bar open all day and between 4:30pm and 5:15pm a free buffet too.
The Festival is expected to get packed so people are being asked to get a free ticket to guarantee entry click here for details.
For the full Festival programme click here
Speakers and more details for the Salford rally and march will be announced shortly
Photo by Steven Speed
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