Push Festival returns to HOME Manchester this January with 2 weeks of events to celebrate and showcase creative talent in the North West. The festival features a mix of theatre shows, exhibitions, workshops and more.
I attended a few of the shows last year and here are the ones I’m planning to check out this year.
Push Festival Launch Party
To celebrate the start of Push 2019, HOME are hosting a launch party which is free to attend on Friday 11th January from 6.30pm onwards. You’ll get to preview some of the shows plus there’ll be music and a DJ set later on.
Cuts of the cloth
Written by Manchester based poet Hafsah Aneela Bashir, this show is about a Muslim woman has been archived in a museum in the not-too-distant future, to speak to visitors about her relationship with the cloth. What happens to her in a society obsessed with policing the female body, amidst the rise of Islamophobia, UK state violence, and the Prevent counter-terrorism strategy?
This show is on the 18th and 19th January. Tickets are £12.50 and you can find more info here.
Platform Manchester
A dance show! Featuring hip hop dance styles and music from some of Manchester’s best choreographers. This is sure to be a fun lively evening and I’m planning to take my niece.
This show is on Friday 25th January, with tickets at £12.50. Tickets and info here.
BINGE!
The description for this show, and the main image with these striking yellow dresses immediately got my attention. It just sounds like an awesome inspiring show:
BINGE! is a full-bodied show about the strength of women, made from researching and soul searching. A show about finding your voice and speaking your truth. About triumphing through trauma. Trampolines. And trifle.
Binge! is on Thursday, Friday and Saturday 17th – 19th January. Tickets are £12.50 and can be bought here.
See My Dunya: See My World
This free exhibition features photography, film, music and sculpture; to brings to focus the seldom seen faces, the un-heard stories and dreams that make up the Somali-British experience.
An invitation into the Somali-Mancunian experiences, it hosts the images, testimonies, sounds and swag of the many individuals that make up this seldomly centred yet hyper-visible community; inviting the viewer to discover and share in the marvellously mundane.
The exhibition will be at HOME on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th January, with a launch event on Sat 12th from 6 – 10pm. More info here.
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This is just a handful of the Push 2019 shows, with loads more to see and do. If you’re a creative yourself, or have aspirations to get into the creative arts, I’d encourage you to check out the workshops because there’s lots on offer and some great networking opportunities too.
PUSH Festival takes place at HOME from Friday 11th Jan – Saturday 26th Jan.