Wigan Diggers Festival

The Wigan Diggers Festival celebrates the legacy of Gerrard Winstanley and the Diggers (True Levellers), the 17th century movement he helped to lead.

Yearly celebration

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 Winstanley, a 17th century English Protestant reformer and leading voice of the Diggers – agrarian communists who imagined a world without private property and social inequality.

Who were the Diggers?

The Diggers, also known as the True Levellers, emerged amid the upheaval 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 private land ownership and arguing 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 movements for justice across the centuries.

Why Wigan?

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 public 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 trade union activism, Winstanley’s message still resonates: dignity belongs to all, not just the few.

Music, politics, and fellowship

The Wigan Diggers Festival is not just a history lesson – it is a vibrant community gathering. The event features:

• Live music, from folk to punk, reggae to protest ballads
• Speeches and debates by trade union leaders, historians, campaigners, and politicians
• Stalls from grassroots groups, radical booksellers, co-operatives, and local campaigns
• Food and drink, much of it locally sourced
• Family activities for all ages

True to its roots, the festival is run by volunteers and funded by donations, trade union support, and community fundraising.

A living tradition

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. Let us now put our hands to work and our hearts to God.”

The 2026 Wigan Diggers Festival takes place on Saturday 12 September

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