Manchester Histories Festival goes online with DigiFest 2020

Undeterred by the chaos COVID-19 has wreaked on the local cultural events scene, Manchester Histories Festival has transported 2020’s event online for their first ever DigiFest. Shifting from its original June date, this new two-day showcase will now take place between Friday 4 and Saturday 6 September 2020 and feature films, discussions, speeches, digital art, music, song and opportunities for viewers to get involved from home. Each of these digital events will be focused around the 50th anniversary of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Person’s Act (1970) – which was pioneered by social reformer and Manchester local Lord Alf Morris – and will inspect the themes of celebrate, learn and challenge.

Each part of the festival will be live-streamed via a bespoke pop-up TV studio which has been created specifically for DigiFest2020, allowing viewers from all across the globe to enjoy and interact with the weekend’s content. Audiences are encouraged to take part from home by submitting their own stories and thoughts which they can do in a number of ways – from sending in their ideas of what they’d like to see discussed and contributing pre-recorded digital content (video, audio etc) that promotes your related organisation or group – to simply sending in your answer to the question: ‘What impact has COVID-19 had on you and the lives of disabled people?’ The deadline for all submissions is Monday 6 July 2020. To find out more – and to explore the entirety of this year’s DigiFest2020 line up – visit the Manchester Histories website.