Maddy Storm, Kieran Dobson

The 14 July 2018 marks the 40th anniversary of Manchester's legendary Rock Against Racism Concert where 35,000 woke folk marched against the National Front and for a better tolerant world.

The Rock Against Racism Northern Carnival was a free music concert on 15 July 1978, in Alexandra Park, Manchester. Jointly organised by Rock Against Racism and the Anti-Nazi League, the concert was preceded by a march through Manchester, starting at Strangeways on Bury New Road, at 12 noon. The concert featured Steel Pulse, Buzzcocks, Exodus and China Street – and was attended by around 35,000 people.

The concert was conceived by Bernie Wilcox of Rock Against Racism and Geoff Brown of the Anti-Nazi League in April 1978, as they travelled back from Carnival Against the Nazis, which was held in London’s Victoria Park on 30 April 1978. The pair, inspired by the event, wanted to create a similar concert in the northwest.