Dave Haslam

DJ and cultural historian Dave Haslam explores and celebrates Manchester’s venues and clubs in the 1940s, including the many palais de danse across the city from Harpurhey to Chorlton; dances hosted at boarded-over swimming pools; Moss Side’s informal shebeens and jazz-soaked venues like the Merchant Navy Club, as well as the Mecca-owned Ritz on Whitworth Street, the jewel in the city’s nightlife crown.

Discover the effect of wartime on going out, and the post-war flowering of basement clubs in the city. Expect changing fashions, late night shenanigans, coachloads of American GIs partying on Plymouth Grove, and other intriguing stories from an era when everything was rationed except the urge to go out dancing.

This free talk is part of IWM North’s commemoration of the 70th anniversary of VE Day.