Manchester Libraries are proud to represent the diversity of the city in our activities and events programme. Each October is Black History Month and this year we are pleased to host a series of events and activities across our libraries.
There will be Black History Month related book displays in libraries, and the catalogue will be celebrating diversity in literature.
50 years of the Carnival in Manchester
In partnership with Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre there will be workshops celebrating 50 years of the Carnival in Manchester.
The History of Carnival Workshops at Central Library are on Wednesday 5 October and Wednesday 26 October.
The history of Caribbean Carnivals is much more complex than many realise and has origins based in colonialism and religious conversion as Europeans settled in the Caribbean Region. It has now become a festival and celebration tied to freedom and the emancipation of enslavement. Caribbean Carnivals, as we know them today, many think started to take shape in Trinidad in the 1830’s. How established African-Caribbean communities transferred the traditions associated with carnival to Manchester will be explored, as well as the roots of the different aspects of the carnival from music to masks/costumes and the importance of crowning a Carnival Queen.
We Are Carnival! at Central Library, Thursday 27 October 2022 from 2pm
- Manchester’s Carnival affiliated DJ and MC will be officiating
- Book display
- Family craft sessions – making carnival king and queen crowns
- Manchester Exhibition displaying carnival themed archive material including sound and photography.
- Film footage and a documentary screening provided by NWFA
- Young Identity spoken word performances
- Buzzrocks Caribbean food
Manchester Literature Festival Events at Central Library on 9 October
- Kit de Waal at 4pm
- Paterson Joseph in Conversation at 7pm
Online History of Carnival talk on Wednesday 12 October.
A History of Carnival talk given by Linford Sweeney and organised by Manchester and Lancashire Family History Society in collaboration with Archives+.
Black History Month storytime session workshops by HOME
- Central Library, Monday 24 October from 2pm until 4pm
- Longsight Library and Learning Centre, Wednesday 26 October from 2pm until 4pm
- Powerhouse Library, Thursday 27 October from 11am until 1pm
Free drop-in, suitable for children up to 10 years old.
Black History Month Carnival History and Crafts
Why not take part in this activity at a library near you to find out where the first carnivals were held and why it’s so important. We will also create carnival headdresses fit for a carnival procession!
- Brooklands Library, 12 October from 4pm until 6pm
- Arcadia Library, 19 October from 4pm until 6pm
- Moss Side Powerhouse, 20 October from 4pm until 6pm
- North City Library, 25 October from 4pm until 6pm
Free drop-in, suitable for children aged 10 and over.
Family Craft Activities
- Forum Library, Monday 24 October from 2pm until 3pm
- Didsbury Library, Tuesday 25 October from 2pm until 3pm
- Hulme High St Library, Wednesday 26 October from 2.30pm until 3.30pm
- Moss Side Powerhouse Library, Thursday 27 October from 3.30pm until 4.30pm
We will also be running a variety of Black History Month ‘invitation only’ events at Central Library. This includes class visits and a Young Person’s celebration event on Monday 31 October.
