ManiFiesta festival to be held in Ostend in September

ManiFiesta festival to be held in Ostend in September

The twelfth edition of ManiFiesta, the “Festival of Solidarity” organised by “Solidaire” magazine and Médecine pour le Peuple – an association close to the Belgian Labour Party, PTB – will take place on 17-18 September in Ostend.

“On September 17 and 18 in Ostend, you will discover the world as it should be, a world in which we are mobilising for the alternatives of the future,” ManiFiesta Director Mario Franssen said in a press release,

Some 1,500 volunteers are working for almost three weeks to mount ManiFiesta with its 160 events and 35 concerts, according to the organisation, which expects some 16,000 festivalgoers.

The festival will feature big names like L’Or du Commun, Stikstof and Magic System, alongside HK, Anita Tijoux, Le Motel and Bab L’Bluz, among others.

Personalities from the left, such as former British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and PTB President Raoul Hedebouw, are expected to attend. So are big names from the sports world, including Belgian high jump and pentathlon record holder Tia Hellebaut, and Olympic chess champion Daniel Dardha, who will take part in a tournament.

Tithi Bhattacharya, American feminist and organiser of the International Women’s Strike of 8 March 2017, and the president of the South African Metalworkers Union, Irvin Jim, have confirmed their attendance, as has the Communist mayor of Graz, Austria’s second city, Elke Kahr.

Several Dutch and French-speaking bookstores are joining ManiFiesta and organising a large book fair with EPO publishers and De Groene Waterman bookstore, according to Franssen.


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