Humanities in Public Festival
Polly Checkland Harding
The annual Humanities in Public Festival enjoys a strong reputation for its city-wide programme of events – and over 7,000 regular attendees. Why? Organised by Manchester Metropolitan University, the festival is inventive in the way that it tackles major issues relevant to the city today: this year’s line-up, for instance, features a walk that spans two cities and culminates in a pub quiz (what else?), an adventurous bus tour led by the Manchester Modernists and a panel of music industry experts and more in discussion about how music, fashion and youth culture has taken Manchester global.
Humanities in Public takes ‘Greater Manchester and Northern Identity’ as its theme, and is part of a broader, university-wide set of events (discover D/Evolving Manchester here). The programme as a whole acts as a celebration of every one of Manchester’s ten boroughs and the city’s identity – including LGBT culture, sport, music and literature – but it also asks ‘what’s next?’ for the city. Here’s our guide to the programme – where you might just discover some of the answers.
