Levellers Day 2012
Protesting and Surviving!
Being realistic and demanding the impossible in the twenty-first century.
Saturday 19th May 2012. Burford, Oxfordshire.
Our Chair:
Tracy Walsh
Programme Co-ordinator, Ruskin College Oxford
Our Speakers:
Hannah Lownsbrough
38 Degrees Campaign Director
Alex Gordon
RMT President
Adam Ramsey
UK Uncut
Our 2012 Entertainment Line-up:
Gary Kaye has become an important and popular voice on the political folk circuit over the past few years. His blend of insightful lyrics mixed with a healthy dose of traditional folk, mixed with punk and pop sensibilities, means that a night watching him perform his music is a night to remember.
Iszi lawrence is an English comedian, illustrator and artist. She is the voice of the Skeptics Guide to the Universe and has her own weekly podcast Sundays Supplement which she co-hosts with TV writer Simon Dunn. She is an international speaker on skepticism and atheism. She has six brothers and sisters (half of whom are Muslim) and is an only child. She lives with a poet and a cat who is rubbish at chess.
The Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band
Oxfordshire's premiere anarchic rhythm and blues/jazz band to bring our event to a foot stomping and successful close for 2012
As well as the main stage there will be entertainment from The Sea Green singers in the church, and the Vale Islanders traditional dance troupe.
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In the main hall this year we have displays by Oxford and District Trades Council and the Bristol Radical History Group
Oxford & District Trades Council:
Oxfordshire Struggles: Past and Present - brings together an exhibition of struggle and collective protest across the county. From the Levellers to the current anti-cuts protests, Oxfordshire has a proud radical tradition.
Bristol Radical History Group.
Since 2006 Bristol Radical History Group have held more than 200 events. Concerned with 'History from Below' they bring together academic and community historians to explore how the lives and struggles of ordinary people have shaped our past and our present, and to remind us that ordinary people have the power to shape the future. Visit the Bristol Radical History Group website at www.brh.org.uk
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Ticket prices:
Please note that we have again frozen tickets prices. This is the third consequtive year without any price increases. Our costs, however, have continued to rise. Please bear this mind and help us promote our event by telling your friends and family to buy a ticket and come along. Thank you.
Whole day: £12 concessions
After 1pm: £8 concessions
Under 14s free
Tickets will be available online from
www.wegottickets.com or at the door.
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On 17 May 1649, three soldiers were executed on Oliver Cromwell's orders in Burford churchyard, Oxfordshire. They belonged to a movement popularly known as the Levellers, with beliefs in civil rights and religious tolerance.
During the Civil War, the Levellers fought on Parliament's side, they had at first seen Cromwell as a liberator, but now saw him as a dictator. They were prepared to fight against him for their ideals and he was determined to crush them. Over 300 of them were captured by Cromwell's troops and locked up in Burford church. Three were led out into the churchyard to be shot as ringleaders.
In 1975, members of the WEA Oxford Industrial Branch went to Burford to reclaim a piece of history that seemed to be missing from the school books. They held a meeting in remembrance of the Leveller soldiers. The following year, Tony Benn came and read in the church and in each succeeding year, people have come to Burford on the Saturday nearest to 17 May, debated, held a procession, listened to music and remembered the Levellers and the importance of holding on to ideals of justice and democracy.
