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George Monbiot to receive Gerrard Winstanley Spade Award for 2021

Controversial Guardian columnist and environmental activist George Monbiot is to receive this year’s Diggers’ Festival “Gerrard Winstanley Spade” award for his ‘outstanding contribution’ to the cause of making the Earth a common treasury for all, in the spirit of the 17th Century Wiganer in whose memory the award is named. 

The award has previously been presented to the late veteran Labour MP Tony Benn, Film Director Ken Loach, Writer Jimmy McGovern and local actor-activist Maxine Peake. 

Our first Gerrard Winstanley Spade in 2013 was awarded to Tony Benn. In addition to everything else he did, he helped to populise Winstanley’s writings in his later life and described the 17th Century Diggers as England’s “first true socialists”. As Tony was too ill to travel to our festival to receive the award in person, and sadly died before we were able to formally present it to him, the Spade was later received by Tony’s son Hilary Benn (shown below) on behalf of Tony’s family.
Hilary Benn, Ken Loach, Maxine Peake & Jimmy McGovern

Homeless campaigner Pauline Town and ‘We Shall Overcome’ musician, activist and campaigner Joe Solo are two more recent recipients.

This year’s award is also presented in recognition of George Monbiot’s ongoing fight, as his own website states: against “environmental destruction, undemocratic power, corruption, deception of the public, injustice, inequality and the misallocation of resources, waste, denial, the libertarianism which grants freedom to the powerful at the expense of the powerless….” and more recently his powerful advocacy of the need to overthrow Capitalism to stop the impending climate catastrophe. (See clips below)

On 1 April 1999, on the 350th anniversary of Gerrard Winstanley and the Diggers’ occupation, George Monbiot was famously involved in the organisation of  a rally and occupation of land at St. Georges Hill, near Weybridge, Surrey. (See Clip below)

George is absolutely delighted to be receiving the award, and had intended to be with us on Saturday to accept it in person. However, as he is now sadly unable to come to this year’s Festival, the Festival Committee will be organising a special event in Wigan later in the year to which George has agreed he will come to receive the award and additionally give us a talk on a subject yet to be decided. He has also agreed he will provide us with a short video for our social media platforms. Watch this space

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Food Vendor Application Form

We are now taking food vendor applications for the Wigan Diggers’ festival 2021 (11th September 2021).
Our festival is run completely by volunteers and attracts around 5000 visitors throughout the day.
We love to make sure that everyone involved in the festival is treated well, so we like to have a chat with you about a fair fee for your stall.
If you would like to trade at this year’s festival, then please fill in the form by clicking the link below with as much detail as possible, and we will contact you about arrangements.

Food Vendor application Form

You must have your own public liability insurance, power/food heating supply and food hygiene certification. We also do not allow generators on site.

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More Volunteers still needed!

We’ve had a good response to our previous appeal for volunteers to help out for 4 hours or more over the weekend of Saturday 11th September, not only on the day of the festival itself, but also on Friday the 10th to help prepare the festival site, and on Sunday the 12th to help clear up the site. That said, we still need a fair few more on the day of the festival to ensure its smoothing running, so can you help us? If so, please fill in our Wigan Diggers’ Festival Volunteer Application Form and let us know as soon as you can. Ta.

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2025 Festival Stall Application Form

For those of you who have been waiting, here it is, this year’s Wigan Diggers’ Festival Stall Application Form. Just click the linked text and fill the form in online, you must be signed in to your Google account to access the form online.

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Volunteers

Volunteers wanted for this year’s festival

We are looking for volunteers to help out with this year’s festival on the 11th September 2021, we need people to help build the festival site on the Friday and take it all down again on the Sunday, we really could do with some extra help doing this, it’s a big job, and we need some lovely people to help us out.

Also, on the day itself we need volunteers for various jobs, everything from working behind the bar, help with stewarding the festival site, collecting rubbish throughout the day or helping behind the stage. Hours would be to suit you on the day.

Any help would be really appreciated, please email us via wigandiggers@gmail.com

Please include your full name and contact details, so we can get back to you by email or phone if needed.

Thank you,

Wigan Diggers’ Committee.

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Wigan Diggers’ Festival 11th September 2021

Due to last year’s festival being postponed because of the situation with Covid, we hope you will help us make the 10th Wigan Diggers’ Festival this year, one to remember. Full details of line-up etc to follow shortly. Stay safe people and we hope to see you all at this year’s festival, it’s going to be a cracker.

Here’s a memory from 2019’s headliners ‘The Men They Couldn’t Hang‘, with the wonderful Joe Solo joining them on stage, sadly we lost guitarist and vocalist Stefan Cush earlier this year, he will be greatly missed and he will always live on in our hearts and in his music…

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10th Wigan Diggers’ Festival – Saturday 12th September 2020

PUT THE DATE DOWN IN YOUR DIARY NOW!

10thWDFPoster

Here, earlier than usual are the details of everyone who will be performing at this year’s landmark 10th Diggers’ Festival. Topping the bill are festival favourites Merry Hell who will be complemented by an excellent line up of acts including Headsticks, Joe Solo, Ukepunk, the Corrie Shelley Band, Barnstormer 1649, Bard Company, Brandon Lee Webb Band, Bathtub Gin Band, Rare Ould Times, Jimmy Andrex, Hadrian’s Union, The Quaintest Show on Earth, Lesley Dawson-Heath, Simon Williams, Jethro Platts, and Isaac Hughes-Dennis. Let’s also not forget Wigan’s own True Levellers Community Samba Band. Come and join us – it’s FREE to attend and always a great do!

The details of the various fringe events, including talks in Wigan Parish Church are yet to be finalised and will be advertised in due course.

Please share our Facebook page with your friends and let us know your coming at: https://www.facebook.com/events/465445411071592/

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Calling All Ye Noble Diggers! The Forecast’s Great – See You on Saturday!

WDF9Weather

Come and join on Saturday for the biggest and best annual get together of North West Trades Unionists, Socialists and other radicals from across the Left at this year’s Wigan Diggers’ Festival. The FREE all day event starts at 11.30am at our usual Wiend venue in Wigan town centre with a symbolic re-enactment of the digging undertaken by Gerrard Winstanley and his companions at St. George’s Hill, near Weybridge in Surrey in 1649, in which the Wigan born radical outlines his views on the common ownership of land and conception of the world as a “common treasury for all”.

Festival goers can expect not only some decent weather, as you can see from today’s BBC Forecast, but a day crammed packed with stuff to suit everyone including live music and poetry across two stages, more than 50 stalls, British and Caribbean, vegan and conventional catering, plus an excellent choice of real ales, fruit beers, traditional ciders and award winning lagers.

GFTU General Secretary Doug Nicholls will also be giving a talk in the Parish Church from 12.30pm to 2.00pm on “The Wisdom of Winstanley’s Words”

WDF9SiteMap

WDF9RunningOrder

9th Wigan Diggers’ Festival Running Order.