Black Gold Arts Festival 2021 with Contact

Kristy Stott, Theatre Editor

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Black Gold Arts Festival

Contact Theatre, Manchester
19-29 October 2021

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Black Gold Arts Festival 2021
Image courtesy of Graham Clayton-Chance.
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This October Contact and Black Gold Arts will present an outstanding line-up for Black Gold Arts Festival. Taking place during Black History Month, the festival will feature a powerful programme of Black-led art, performance and film.

A powerful programme of Black-led art, performance and film.

The festival Launches on 19 October with keynote speech from Kleaver Cruz. Examining topics of Black Joy, the speech will focus on Kleaver’s work on the Black Joy Project. Festival momentum continues with an online panel discussion on 20 October; Black Gold Arts will bring together a panel from the worlds of journalism, arts and psychology to explore the theme of Black Joy: why is it so important and how do we make more room for it?

A live world premiere of mandla rae’s eagerly anticipated film, as british as a watermelon.

Highlights of the festival include a live world premiere of mandla rae’s eagerly anticipated film, as british as a watermelon. Weaving poetry and storytelling, the work explores mandla’s fragmented asylum and migration experiences. Experience Mele Broome’s Wrapped Up In This, a new 40-minute film, blending vocal melodies, movement and spoken word, paying tribute to the women from the Caribbean and West Africa who uprooted themselves in the ’50s and ’60s to save the NHS.

There will also be an exciting new podcast launch. Created by Suriya Aisha, Sickbabe is a series of witty, honest chats with people who live with disabilities and long-term illnesses, plus a film screening of Chanje Kunda’s dark satirical comedy Plant Fetish. Additionally, the festival brings a lively panel discussion looking at the importance of community in music, and a movement workshop facilitated by choreographer and director Mele Broomes.

Take a look at the full line-up via the button below.

What's on at Contact Theatre

Emergency 25 at Contact
TheatreManchester
Emergency 25 at Contact

Manchester’s annual micro-marathon of live art takes over Contact with bold performances, installations and interventions. Pay What You Decide.

Free entry

Where to go near Black Gold Arts Festival 2021 with Contact

Manchester
Music venue
The Deaf Institute

The Deaf Institute is a vibrant gig venue and nightclub for which it is well worth taking a jaunt out of the Northern Quarter.

Manchester
Catalog Bookshop

Find Peter and his Christiania cargo bike around All Saints Park, a hop, skip and a bunnyhop from Manchester Poetry Library.

Manchester
Bar or Pub
Sandbar

Sandbar, just off Oxford Road in Manchester, is a well-loved watering hole, with a great selection of ales and some eccentric seating.

Johnny Roadhouse store
Manchester
Shop
Johnny Roadhouse

Buffeted by fried chicken outlets, legendary musical instrument emporium Johnny Roadhouse has been serving the local music community for over 50 years.

Manchester
Café or Coffee Shop
Eighth Day

Eighth Day is a co-operative shop that sells ethically-sourced food, wine and cosmetics. There’s also café that serves hearty, healthy meals in the basement.

Manchester
Event venue
The Proud Place

Based in the heart of Manchester on Sidney Street, The Proud Place houses The Proud Trust and serves as a community hub for the wider LGBT+ population across Greater Manchester and beyond.

What's on: Theatre

A large mechanical puppet controlled by multiple people. Encounter Festival in Preston
FestivalsLancashire
Encounter Festival in Preston

Expect a jam-packed day of outdoor performance, live music, family fun – plus Preston’s iconic Torchlight Procession and fireworks finale.

Free entry
FLIGHT at Aviva Studios
Until
TheatreCity Centre
FLIGHT at Aviva Studios

Happening in absolute darkness inside a 40ft shipping container, FLIGHT invites you to board a commercial airliner – and take two possible journeys.

From £10.00
How a Spiral Works at Lowry
TheatreSalford
How A Spiral Works at Lowry

With its blend of Baltic folk music, contemporary dance and extraordinary circus, this show promises a one-of-a-kind performance experience.

From £14.00
ARCADE at Lowry
Until
TheatreMediaCityUK
ARCADE at Lowry

A choose-your-own-adventure experience set inside a retro-style gaming cabinet, created by DARKFIELD.

From £16.00
SÉANCE at HOME
Until
TheatreManchester
SÉANCE at HOME

Happening at HOME, SÉANCE transforms the interior of a shipping container into a Victorian séance room.

From £13.00
Emergency 25 at Contact
TheatreManchester
Emergency 25 at Contact

Manchester’s annual micro-marathon of live art takes over Contact with bold performances, installations and interventions. Pay What You Decide.

Free entry

Culture Guides

Cinema in the North

A host of Halloween horrors, experimental shorts, plus pioneering black British cinema make our October Cinema Guide.

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in the North

Theatre this month bursts with contrasts - from bold new writing and Black History Month highlights to contemporary arts and reimagined classics.

Exhibitions in the North

Galleries around the North are gearing up for a new season of exhibitions - from iconic art prizes to smaller, artist-led gems.

Wisp Press Image
Music in the North

From corrupted shoegaze to experimental electronica, post-hardcore to Indian classical, these are the shows that should be on your radar.