Manchester Histories Festival

Manchester Histories Festival
Name	Manchester Histories Festival
Location	Manchester, England
First	2003
Frequency	Annual
Genre	History festival

Contents

Manchester Histories Festival

The Manchester Histories Festival is an annual public festival of history held in Manchester, combining exhibitions, talks, walking tours, film screenings and performances. It brings together curators, historians, artists and community groups from institutions such as the Imperial War Museum, British Library, National Trust, Museum of Science and Industry, and People’s History Museum. The festival engages audiences through collaborations with universities like the University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University, and Bishop Grosseteste University as well as cultural organisations including Manchester Art Gallery, HOME (Manchester), and The Lowry.

History and origins

The festival emerged in the early 2000s from partnerships among local actors including Manchester City Council, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, and the Heritage Lottery Fund. Its origins drew on precedents such as the Brighton Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and programming models used by the Imperial War Museum North and National Museums Liverpool. Early commissioners worked with scholars from Victoria University of Manchester, curators from the People’s History Museum, and directors originally involved with events at Manchester Cathedral and Chetham's Library. Influences included exhibitions about figures like Peterloo Massacre, Emmeline Pankhurst, and Alan Turing, and thematic strands inspired by anniversaries such as the First World War centenary and the Industrial Revolution heritage of Cottonopolis.

The festival is administered by a charitable trust and a board composed of representatives from partner organisations including the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Arts Council England, Historic England, and local universities such as the University of Salford. Operational teams coordinate programming with festival producers, artistic directors, curators, and volunteers drawn from community networks including Manchester Jewish Museum, Tameside Local Studies and Archives Centre, and Bolton Museum. Governance structures reflect best practice from bodies like the British Council, Heritage Lottery Fund, and Culture24, with advisory input from historians affiliated with institutions such as the Royal Historical Society, Institute of Historical Research, and the Economic History Society.

Programming spans public lectures by historians associated with the Institute of Historical Research, panel discussions featuring authors published by Penguin Books and Oxford University Press, film seasons hosted with partners like BFI and National Science and Media Museum, and theatre projects commissioned with companies such as Royal Exchange Theatre and Contact (Manchester venue). Tours and walks explore sites connected to Manchester Ship Canal, Canal Street, Manchester, Ancoats, and the Peace Gardens with guides from Guild of Tour Guides. Past festival themes have engaged with figures such as Karl Marx, Elizabeth Gaskell, Frederick Engels, Ada Lovelace, and Anthony Burgess, and events have included exhibitions curated with Manchester Art Gallery, workshops led by National Trust staff, and oral history projects in collaboration with Oral History Society.

Events take place across venues including Manchester Central Convention Complex, Royal Exchange Theatre, People’s History Museum, Manchester Cathedral, Chetham’s Library, Manchester Museum, The Lowry, HOME (Manchester), John Rylands Library, Portico Library, International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Castlefield, Castlefield Bowl, St Ann’s Square, Victoria Baths, and community hubs in Levenshulme, Wythenshawe, Harpurhey, and Didsbury. Festival site-specific interventions have used industrial heritage settings such as Moss Side Power Station locations and former textile mills in Ancoats and Angel Meadow.

Education programmes link with schools and colleges in the Manchester Local Education Authority, collaborate with higher education partners like Manchester Metropolitan University and University of Manchester, and deploy resources developed with the National Archives and the British Library. Outreach includes oral history training with the Oral History Society, multilingual tours working with Refugee Action, family activities with the Science and Industry Museum, and intergenerational projects with care partners such as Age UK. The festival has partnered on curriculum-linked sessions referencing primary sources from archives including People’s History Museum, Greater Manchester County Record Office, and Chetham’s Library to support GCSE and A-level cohorts studying topics connected to Industrial Revolution, Suffragette movement, and World War I.

Funding and partnership arrangements draw on public funders and cultural sponsors including Arts Council England, Heritage Lottery Fund, Manchester City Council, and corporate partners from the Co-operative Group and local business improvement districts. Collaborative programming has been produced with national bodies such as the British Museum, National Trust, Imperial War Museum, Historic England, National Lottery Heritage Fund, BBC History, and international cultural partners including the German Historical Institute and Consulate General of France in Manchester. Philanthropic support has come from trusts like the Wolfson Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, and local donors coordinated via the Manchester Cultural Forum.

Category:Festivals in Manchester