Photos: © Joseph Brehony
The Northern Carnival against the Nazis, a rally and concert held on 15 July 1978 in Moss Side, Manchester, was a defining moment in establishing anti-racism in the city and beyond.
Dubbed the day it became cool to be anti-racist, the Carnival galvanised North West communities against racist groups, including the National Front. A rally of 15,000 people marched all the way from Strangeways prison to Alexandra Park joining a further 25,000 for an afternoon of music, dancing and unity.
Co-organised by Geoff Brown of the Anti-Nazi League (ANL) and Bernie Wilcox of Rock Against Racism (RAR), the Carnival featured incendiary live performances by pop-punk superstars Buzzcocks and Steel Pulse, the UK's leading reggae band of the period. Support came from Moss Side reggae band Exodus (later X-O-Dus) and China Street from Lancaster, who had released a single on EMI called Rock Against Racism.
These photos are featured in our online exhibition: Northern Carnival Against the Nazis, 1978:
www.mdmarchive.co.uk/exhibition/674/w...
Joseph writes:
As it was 40 years ago my memories of the day itself, to be honest, are not that clear so I don't think I would be able to add much information other than the two girls in the "punks in the park" picture are called Sheila (left) and Kym (right) and also the solo picture is of Kym. You can also see Buzzcocks' Steve Garvey signing autographs in Alexandra Park.
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