The Festival organisers have invited two prominent scholars who have a done a substantial amount of academic research into Gerrard Winstanley the 17th Century Diggers’ to attend the Festival as their special guests, and and to give us a talk about the great Wiganer and his movement. Amongst these is Dr. John Gurney from the University of Newcastle (see leaflet artwork below)

Another is Derek Winstanley, who officially opened our first ever Festival back in 2011 and will be flying all the way from Champaign, Illinois, on “The Influence of Wigan & Wiganers on the ideas of Gerrard Winstanley“.