Confusion is currently reigning over the Peterloo Massacre anniversary events, which commemorate two hundred years since 18 people died and hundreds more got injured after a brutal attack by the local yeomanry and government troops during a 60,000 strong pro-democracy rally at St Peter's Field on 16th August 1819.
There are already over 150 public events to mark the anniversary but the main weekend 16th-18th August - has got many people confused. It seems that there has been a political split between those who want to commemorate the event as a historical moment with a modern political twist, and those who want to keep the spirit of Peterloo alive by relating it to current campaigns.
So, on Saturday 17th August there's the Peterloo Now! official event, with no political banners present, as marchers from across Greater Manchester converge on Windmill Street in Manchester (in front of GMex or Manchester Central), the original site of St Peter's Field from 3pm.
The Eccles contingent for this march is due to meet at Eccles Cross Monument at 12noon before walking via Salford Royal Hospital and Buile Hill Park to meet Salford and Bolton marchers near Pendleton Church at around 1:05pm. They will then set off, via Salford Crescent Station to Deansgate in Manchester to meet with the 'Henry Hunt' Middleton marchers and onto the big event outside G-Mex.
Anyone interested in going on this march can get further details from Greg via email pendlek_night@live.co.uk or ring 07491 879 808.
"Friends, we want you to join a contingent which will form up near Pendleton on the 17th, and walk through into Manchester" says Greg "In doing so, you will be proclaiming the names of our ancestors who made the ultimate sacrifices for our freedom. It will be a day and an event of remembrance, which you will not doubt remember all your lives!
"When we meet it will be said, as it was two hundred years ago, that 'Here in this Hundred of Salford we, now, can grasp ownership of what has been withheld from us by our own supposed compatriots...our lives!'" he adds.
Once at Manchester Central, there will be an 'illegal picnic' at which there will be the launch of a new Six Acts project, taking its inspiration from the original six demands of the Chartist movement in the 1830s...
These new Six Acts are a crowdsourced 'democratic manifesto' during the 200th anniversary commemoration weekend, with people invited to submit their own reform proposals with a polling site going live from 4pm...
"The 200th anniversary of Peterloo comes at a time when there's a huge level of disillusionment about our democratic system" says Paul Fitzgerald, chair of the Peterloo Memorial Campaign, which is helping organize the project "It's not enough to just commemorate Peterloo in a sentimental way. We need to continue the work the campaigners of 1819 struggled and died for, by strengthening and deepening the effectiveness of how we make decisions as a society. Who better to say how this should be done than the voters themselves?
A range of UK organizations have already come on board and will be submitting their own reform proposals, including The Democratic Society, Real Democracy Movement, Unlock Democracy, the Electoral Reform Society, Make Votes Matter, Open Democracy and the Peter Tatchell Foundation.
"Rather than a fixed, rigid manifesto, we want the Six Acts to be a working document which can be updated annually and revisited on an ongoing basis" adds activist Eva Schlunke "We'll get a look at the first version of the crowdsourced document at the end of the launch event and we plan to take another snapshot of the evolving proposals when our current government holds its annual party conference at the site of Peterloo in September. There's an added ironic twist to that, as the Peterloo Memorial itself will be hidden from the public behind a steel security barrier."
Each 'Six Acts' proposal will be limited to 100 words each, and the most compelling will be chosen by public online votes. A holding page for the project has been launched, which contains detailed information of how the project will be conducted. See www.sixacts.org
For more details of the August 17th marches from around Greater Manchester see the Facebook page click here
Full details on the Salford march on Sunday 18th August - click here
On Friday 16th August, the actual anniversary, there is also From The Crowd, a day of song, performance and more, including a ticketed free event in the forecourt of Manchester Central with performances at 12noon (sold out), 5:30pm and 8pm...
1:30pm - reading of the names of the dead
2:15pm-4.45pm Rebel Karaoke, including performances by Streetwise Opera, Aziz Ibrahim and Commonors Choir
5:30pm-6:30pm From the Crowd second performance
6:30pm -7:15pm Rebel Karaoke and the The 'Horrock's Family' folk singers
8pm- 9pm From the Crowd final performance
9.15pm - Midnight Red Saunders's, Hidden Project images projected on to Bridgewater Hall
To book for the ticketed free performances click here
For more details on From The Crowd click here
For full details on all the Peterloo events see www.peterloo1819.co.uk
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