News and Opinion

This year is the 170th anniversary of the People's Band which played on the racecourse (Victoria Park) in the summer of 1856 & 1857. This was in defiance of the alleged prohibition of secular music being played publicly on Sunday. There was no specific law to prohibit this, so the organisers of the band were eventually fined for trespass and there was no more public music in Leicester's parks until 1895. Afro City will provide South African Township Jazz.   Please bring food and drink to share.    (Subject to the weather being OK)    Sunday Music and the Pharisees     In April 1856, the Commissioner of Works, Sir ...

Our speaker on 7th June  Paul ‘Polyp’ Fitzgerald appealed, from those who can afford to do so, for funding for a richly (and often cheekily) illustrated biographical romp through the extraordinary history, lives, and radical ideas of some of the world’s wildest freethinkers, humanists and rebels... Authored by Paul ‘Polyp’ Fitzgerald and Madeleine Goodall Colour softback, 88 pages, 23 x 16cm The aim is for an affectionate and admiring - but warts and all – tone when examining these pioneering figures from many eras and continents, who challenged not only their cultures, but their ideological peers as well. Most were subjected to hostility, prejudice, censorship and persecution, and responded with courage, determination and wit. You can contribute by clicking here.