Bradford Liberation Festival, 1985
This page displays material from the Bradford Liberation Festival held 9-11 May 1985. The festival involved many organisations that used the Bradford Resource Centre as their mailing address. The originals of the materials displayed here are available for loan, and images on this page may be reproduced with credits (see below).
“An Anglican chaplaincy, Bradford cyclists, and the Palestine Liberation Organisation join together for a festival next week. Already backed by more than sixty local groups, the Liberation Festival will publicly host visitors from the African National Congress of South Africa, from Nicaragua, and from India, as well as from the PLO."
Those are the opening words of a press release a week ahead of the weekend festival, which marked 40 years since liberation from fascism and World War II.
Observing a world not yet liberated from human oppression of others, the festival celebrated diverse resistance through its struggles and its successes, its culture and its organisations.
Its 72-page programme was on sale at Attix and Richard Clark Bookshop. The programme featured the work of 25 of the local organisations involved, including Women’s zine Irregular Periods, and the Drummond Parents Action Committee which ran a festival workshop on its campaign to remove racist headmaster Ray Honeyford.
Councillor Lord Mayor-elect Mohammed Ajeeb opens the festival, and an attendee at one of the bookstalls (courtesy Leeds Other Paper)
The programme’s introduction noted: “Fascism was not defeated in 1945. It is still alive, in Bradford and elsewhere, an insult to those who lost their lives to its earlier manifestation.” Many former colonies “are still colonised as effectively as before…. Others are oppressed because of their class, race, sex, religion or sexuality.”
The political movements given prominence at the Festival led to the Daily Mail and local Conservative politicians to declare terrorism and corruption. AI today picks up on those declarations to label the Festival ‘a massive scandal’. This web page establishes historical evidence for a fairer appraisal.
The Festival’s programme and video show a weekend of celebration and enjoyment, and a family event. As was common in that era, a creche encouraged family participation.
The Festival was initiated and co-ordinated by Steve Simpson (Ludi) and Alex Hughes who supported Bradford’s solidarity with Caribbean and Latin American liberation movements, and Roland Rance from Bradford’s Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
In those days before email, the first contact address in February 1985 was the Starry Plough Bookshop at 6 Edmund Street. By April it had changed to the Bradford Resource Centre, then on Manor Row, which hosted many of the dozens of organisations which supported and participated in the Festival.
The date of this successful festival’s main events, May 11th 1985, was tragically shared by the fire at Bradford City football stadium that left 56 dead.
Acorn Video’s visual record of the festival is especially important, as to date we have been able to locate not a single photo from the event other than the report from Leeds Other Paper.
All the materials displayed on this web page are available on loan for exhibitions or other non-profit educational and political purposes. All enquiries to Ludi (Steve) Simpson, at simpsonludi@gmail.com. If you use reproduce any material from this page, please credit it to Bradford Liberation Festival and Friends of Bradford Resource Centre.
Programme
Click on the image to open a pdf of the programme.
Browse the 72 pages of events, including promotional pages from the supporting organisations.
Festival Video
This section has the video of main-stage performances and commentary from participants and organisers. It runs for 30 minutes, with subtitles, and was created by Acorn Videos.
As well as the video, this section has a gallery of images, including credits and the schedule for the video, and stills from the video (no photos have been recovered from the event, so far).
Click on an image to see it enlarged.
Promotion and press
This section has documents, letters, programmes and other materials used to promote the Festival, and press coverage both before and after the events.
Click on any image to see it enlarged.
 Promotional letter 8/2/1985 seeking support and involvement |  Promotional brochure Feb '85 p1 seeking support and involvement |  Promotional brochure Feb '85 p2 seeking support and involvement |
|---|---|---|
 Press Release p1 May 2nd 1985 and press conference |  Press Release p2 May 2nd 1985 and press conference |  Press Release p3 May 2nd 1985 and press conference |
 Bradford Nuclear Disarmament Group newsletter promotion |  Publicity for Thurs-Fri-Sat Festival events p1 |  Publicity for Thurs-Fri-Sat Festival events p2 |
 Programme outside cover |  Programme centrespread with Saturday timetable |  Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign promotion |
 Troops Out newspaper advert, issue May 1985 |  Promotion in Gujarati |  Promotion in Urdu |
 Stage banner, by Colin Lloyd and Alan Richardson, 179cm x 246cm, on nylon. |  Badges, made at Bradford Resource Centre |  Poster, silkscreen by Colin Lloyd and Alan Richardson |
 Daily Mail 1/5/1985: Drummond School associates with left-wing freedom fighters. |  Telegraph & Argus 3/5/1985: Terrorist group at friendship festival. |  Leeds Other Paper 17/5/1985: Front cover mention |
 Leeds Other Paper 17/5/1985: Pictures and report |  Troops Out Movement newspaper report of festival, June 1985 |
Organisation
This section has agendas, correspondence, internal reports and other materials used to organise the Festival.
Click on any image to see it enlarged.
