Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre
Trades Union Council
jump to menu Spanish Civil War 70th Anniversary Commemoration
Sunday 29 October 2006; starts 19:30
An evening of 'protest, poetry, and song' commemorating the events of the Spanish Civil War in 1936-39 will feature Britain's finest agit-folk protest singer, the evergreen Bard of Barking, Billy Bragg, at the Library Theatre (Central Library, St Peters Square, Manchester, M2 5PD) on Sunday 29 October.
The event is organised by the International Brigade Memorial Trust, an charitable organisation set up to publicise the role of the British and Irish volunteers in the International Brigades, to preserve their history and keep their anti-fascist ideals alive for future generations.
The war was sparked when General Franco supported by the Fascist dictators Hitler and Mussolini rebelled against the democratically elected Republican government. In response to this over 2000 British and Irish young men and women travelled to Spain in order to join the battle to keep in power the government the people had voted for and to resist further Fascist aggression. However, General Franco triumphed, and he was to rule the country until his death in November 1975, aged 83, when democracy returned to the country. Along with Billy Bragg, poet Trevor Barnett, actress Marlene Sidaway, Lip Service's Maggie Fox, award-winning poet and writer Jackie Kay, and popular Lancashire folk group The Houghton Weavers will be performing. Further guests are to be confirmed.
"The focus of the event is for people to have a good time and to be entertained," says Chris Hall, of the Manchester branch of the International Brigade Memorial Trust, "but the idea is also to commemorate the ideals and involvement of the volunteers from Greater Manchester, and personal experiences of volunteers will be read out."
Tickets £10 (concession £8) from the Box Office: 0161 236 7110
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General Information
Blackpool
President: Martin Penfold; Secretary: Andrew Wheatley
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Page last modified: 2007-01-01 19:15:58 +0100