Whose Festival is it Anyway?

Creative Tourist

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Whose Festival is it Anyway?

11 March 2017

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

Wonder Women 2017
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As the 2017 festival draws to a close, Digital Women’s Archive North [DWAN] and Instigate Arts bring together this year’s contributing artists, producers, curators and groups for a lively and provocative panel discussion asking if feminist festivals are an act of disruptive activism in their own right, raising consciousness and introducing young activists to key moments in the history of their own movements and causes?

It will look forward to 2018 and set out a bold vision for how Wonder Women might grow to become a fitting Manchester tribute to the 100 year anniversary of the first votes for women. How might the city of suffragettes live up to the legacy of those original disruptive activists; capture public attention and support creative practitioners with a feminist ethos?

Panel Participants:

  • Sarah Perks (Artistic Director of HOME Mcr, Film Producer and Professor of Visual Art, Manchester Met University)
  • Rosanne Robertson (Artist and Co-Director of The Penthouse, Manchester)
  • Julie Ward (Labour and Co-operative Party Member of the European Parliament for the North West of England, Member of Parliament’s Culture & Education Committee, Member of the Regional Development Committee and the Committee on Gender Equality and Women’s Rights.)
  • Francine Hayfron (Cultural Park Keeper, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester) Dr Louise Platt (Senior Lecturer in Festival and Event Management (Manchester Met University)

Chairing:

  • Dr Jenna Ashton (Creative Director, [DWAN] Digital Women’s Archive North, Manchester)
  • Anne-Louise Kershaw (Curator, Wonder Women Festival 2017, Co-Director, Instigate Arts, Manchester)Come and have your say.

Where to go near Whose Festival is it Anyway?

St Peters Square Manchester
City Centre
St Peter’s Square

St Peter’s Square is a public space in Manchester – home to the city’s iconic library, town hall, Pankhurst statue, art gallery and famous Midland Hotel.

Manchester Art Gallery. Photo by Andrew Brooks
City Centre
Gallery
Manchester Art Gallery

The Charles Barry-designed, Grade I-listed Manchester Art Gallery is one of the city’s leading galleries and is back open for visitors once more.

Manchester
Restaurant
Ban Di Bul

Ban Di Bul is a longstanding Korean restaurant in the very centre of Manchester.

Chinatown
Hotel
The Alan

This high-end city-centre restaurant has an excellent afternoon tea option that more than matches up to the superb main menu.

Salut Wines
Chinatown
Bar or Pub
Salut Wines

Salut wines pride themselves in offering “wider horizons beyond the safe choices.” With 42 wines by the glass and a regularly changing selection of bottles in their Enomatic wine preservation machines (or  “wine jukebox,” as they’re colloquially known), this is one of be best bars in Manchester for exploring new vintages.

Manchester
Restaurant
Friska

Latest branch of Friska, the independent healthy fast food chain.

Manchester
Restaurant
Don Giovanni

Traditional Italian restaurant, serving everything from pizza to steak. All this in a large modern venue with floor-to-ceiling windows.

Chinatown
Restaurant
Manchester Art Gallery Cafe

Summery bakes, seasonal salads and fresh light meals at Manchester Art Gallery’s in-house café, courtesy of highly-regarded Head Chef Matthew Taylor.

City Centre
Tourist Attraction
Manchester Town Hall

Re-opening in 2024, Manchester Town Hall is a monument to Victorian Manchester’s ambition, and one of the city’s most-loved landmarks.

City Centre
Tourist Attraction
Albert Square

A public square in the heart of Manchester which plays hosts to festivals and major events. Home to the Albert Memorial and statues of Bishop James Fraser, John Bright, Oliver Heywood and William Ewart Gladstone.

What's on: Festivals

Culture Guides

Exhibitions

From monumental to minutiae, this month’s exhibitions trace power, care and community across galleries big and small.

Theatre

Classic texts and new work meet in this month’s Theatre Guide, with a bumper crop of shows shaped by power, consequence and collective action.

Music

We have an eclectic mix of gigs for you this month, moving from experimental electronics and noise rock to synth pop, opera, and hyper-local R&B.

Food and Drink in the North

Spring is coming, but first let's get Valentine's Day done and dusted. Here's our deal-packed guide to food and drink in Manchester and the North.

Emily Lloyd-Saini as Grace in Space and Harrie Hayes as Lieutenant Strong in Horrible Science
Family things to do in the North

Whether you’re after storybook theatre, museum wanderings or illusion-bending play spaces, there’s plenty to keep curiosity ticking through winter and beyond.

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
Cinema in the North

There's no shortage of great films out at the moment, whether you're looking for the latest blockbuster, that hot arthouse flick fresh from Cannes or a cosy classic.