It was November 1908 and two intrepid women, Helen Dawson and Alice Lea, were chalking advertisements on the pavements of central Coventry to raise awareness of the forthcoming meeting of the Women’s Social and Political Union at the Baths Assembly Hall.

In spite of being drenched with waste water, they carried on and the meeting went ahead led by Sylvia Pankhurst. This was not the first time Coventry women had taken part in the struggle for women to get the vote, and it certainly would not be the last.

This walk around central Coventry will highlight the story of the city, its people, and the fight for women to get the vote in the years before World War I. Histories of women’s suffrage often focus on London and the national leadership, but this walk will reveal there are plenty of local contributions and fascinating encounters which show that Coventry had an important part to play. Learn about the local struggle and what this says about citizenship today.

The walk will take around 2 hours and is suitable for people of all ages. Free event but places are limited so advance booking is essential.

What are the ways in which we can map women’s activism?

Resonate Festival returns to the project and event that lifted the rafters at the Assembly Gardens Festival in the summer of 2021.

In the beautiful surroundings of the newly-restored Drapers Hall, this glorious event is full of song and dance - enjoy a live performance of Giddha (an all-female Punjabi dance) and listen to the stories of activism placed on a map and converted into new boliyan (folk music genre of music, song and sound).

Despite a trailblazing history of South Asian women’s activism in Coventry, these stories are rarely featured in the city’s heritage imagery - this performance perfectly encapsulates them all into boliyan and giddha.

A perfect opportunity to participate in listening, re-telling, singing, dancing and challenging the political plotting of cities. Listen to songs while learning of how South Asian women in Coventry pioneered activism in the city in the 1990s through the generation of safe refuge, home working mobilisations, training and health initiatives, as well as interventions in local, national and European structures.

This event is free to attend but places are limited - booking essential

This is a collaboration between academics Prof. Ravi Thiara (Warwick University) and Dr Nirmal Puwar (Goldsmiths University), with activist and creative practitioner Preet Grewal and Vera Hyare, Inderjit Sahota, Jitey Samra and Mouli Banerjee.

Ghosts, fairies and a wombful of rabbits: weird and wondrous stories from early modern women