The Big Banquet: Contact reveals huge plans for 50th anniversary weekender

As Contact reaches the big 50, the unmistakable castle venue has revealed huge plans for a two-day celebration at the end of July.

The Big Banquet will feature a feast of extraordinary cultural delights, with a programme that spans everything from poetry, music, workshops and mouthwatering food.

Kicking things off on Fri 28 Jul will be the Big Banquet: Supper Club — hosted by the sublime ARMR Cafe and Kitchen, guests are invited to tuck into an extra special Carribbean feast while enjoying an immersive fashion show by the brilliant Contact Young Company.

Following that, from 9pm into the early hours, is the Big Banquet After Party, complete with live DJs and cabaret from some of the very best of Manchester’s local artists.

On Sat 29 Jul, get your day off to the perfect start with The Big Banquet: Morning Rave. Led by Hebe Reilly, with music from DJ Misscothèque, Contact promises ‘a joyful, energetic space to explore movement with other open-minded people.’

Also on Saturday will be two free Build Your Own Banquet workshops. These will be led by Manchester-based Agent, Eliah, who has pioneered Food for All, a recipe booklet, meal cards and video tutorials available to users for free and tailored to meet the needs of a growing number of food bank users.

There will be a handful of free sustainable Clothes Making Workshops, which will be headed by Manchester-based costume designer Jaheda Choudhury, with all supplies provided. Founder of Drawn Poorly Zine, Rose Sergent, will also be hosting free creative Zine Making Workshops, again, all supplies are provided for these.

Rounding up the free workshop programme will be mould-breaking Manchester-based artist Werkha, who’ll be delivering a music masterclass in Contact’s state-of-the-art media lounge, and Bars With Baba, an online hip-hop lyric writing workshop with Baba Isreal and Keisha Thompson.

Bringing festivities to a close is the Cocktails & Cinquains X Capsule Launch — a night of ‘boisterous beverages and punchy poetry’. A performance mixologist will be tasked with creating cocktails inspired by a guest poet, the reaction of the audience and ‘whatever is available in the shops’.

For more information, or to book tickets to any of Contact’s Big Banquet events, click the button below.

Featured image credit: Adrian Lambert