Manchester’s finest female and non-binary DJs will be assembling this weekend for the annual Suffragette City party, which will raise thousands of pounds for charity.
Co-founder Kath McDermott, former resident at Flesh at the Hacienda, will be joined by the likes of Rina Ladybeige of the Social Service, Crazy P’s Danielle Moore, Andrea Trout and BB from Supernature for the event, taking place at the Brickhouse Social bar and Kable, the club space beneath, on March 5.
The party, now in its fifth year, will be the biggest one yet, having moved from previous venue The Refuge.
The event was spawned from an photography exhibition by the Manchester Digital Music Archive in 2018, which coincided with the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the UK, and which championed women in the Manchester music scene.
It’s since become an annual party, raising money for various grassroots charities in the area.
“It was just a one off launch of an exhibition, and we didn’t know if anyone would come,” McDermott told the Manchester Evening News.
“But it was so good, and everyone went nuts for it. So we did another one, and that was even better, and then another one. The 2019 party in March was just about the last big event to happen in Manchester before lockdown.
“We did a live stream last year, but it’s great that we’ve come out of lockdown and into it for this year’s party.”
The live stream, which featured Manchester DJ and artist Afrodeutsche on the bill, raised over £7,500.
“We were gobsmacked about that,” McDermott went on.
Each year the event chooses four different charities to support, with all of the money made - not just profits - going into the pot.
Each of the charities is always either for women’s causes or to help support gender minorities in Greater Manchester.
This year, the event will support womens' refuge Fortalice in Bolton, women-only foodbank and allotment Emmeline’s Pantry, Odd Arts, which runs workshops on issues around consent for young people, and The Proud Trust’s Femolition Squad, a group for young trans women and trans-feminine people.
“The money never goes on to some CEO, it goes to the people who need it. The responses we get from the charities is amazing, because they’re so small, one or two grand makes an enormous difference,” added McDermott.
“[The Femolition Squad] were overwhelmed to have the support and unity with a women’s organisation in Manchester.
“They told us they’d spent £100 of the money we’d given them on getting the locks fixed on a door that had been kicked in. That meant that we could pay for that to be fixed. These young people are really vulnerable, and it’s great hearing first hand about that kind of impact.
“All that we’re doing is having a really great night out, and for it to have that effect just makes it a really beautiful thing in my opinion.”
Also on the bill this year are the Eves’Drop Collective, Julie Wills, Muddy Feet, Queer Latifah and Jaye Ward.
Though tickets for the Kable club event are now sold out, tickets for the daytime party, at the Brickhouse Social and its terrace, are still available, running all day from 3pm to midnight for just £4.
You can grab them here, with Suffragette City merchandise available to get hold of here.
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