| | by admin | | posted on 27th May 2025 in National Alignments | | views 110 | |
The Wigan Diggers Festival celebrates the legacy of Gerrard Winstanley and the struggle for social justice
Each year in early September, the town of Wigan in Greater Manchester comes alive with music, banners, and a spirit of radical remembrance.The Wigan Diggers Festival is a free, open-air celebration honouring Gerrard Winstanley, a 17th-century English Protestant reformer and the leader of the Diggers — a group of agrarian communists who envisioned a world without private property and social inequality.
Founded in 2011, the festival brings together trade unionists, socialists, Quakers, peace activists, and lovers of radical history to reflect on past struggles and renew their commitment to justice, equity, and community.
The Diggers, also known as the True Levellers, emerged in the wake of the English Civil War Period. In 1649, Winstanley and a small band of followers occupied common land on St George’s Hill in Surrey. They began cultivating the soil together, rejecting the notion of private land ownership and advocating that "the Earth was made a common treasury for all."
Though their experiment was short-lived—crushed by landowners and state force—their vision has endured as a beacon of egalitarian hope, inspiring social movements through the centuries.
Winstanley was born in Wigan in 1609, and the festival proudly reclaims his legacy for the town. A statue of Winstanley now stands in The Wiend, unveiled in 2013 during the festival, a rare tribute to a figure often overlooked in mainstream British history.
For the people of Wigan, many of whom trace their roots to coal-mining, textile labour, and union activism, Winstanley's message resonates strongly: that dignity belongs to all, not just the few.
The Wigan Diggers Festival is not just a history lesson—it is a vibrant community gathering. The event features:
True to its roots, the festival is run entirely by volunteers and funded by donations, trade union support, and community fundraising.
In an age of growing inequality, climate crisis, and political disillusionment, the Wigan Diggers Festival reminds us of a radical English tradition often buried beneath crown and empire. It keeps alive the idea that another world is not only possible but necessary—and that its seeds are sown when ordinary people come together, in common cause and common ground. As Winstanley once wrote:
"Words and writing were the cause of all the trouble in the world."Gerrard Winstanley
"Let us now put our hands to work and our hearts to God."