Arts events to mark Peterloo Massacre's 200th anniversary

A talk on freedom of speech with Billy Bragg will launch 150 events across Greater Manchester

A summer programme of events will commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre.

At least 11 people were killed and 400 were injured when a troop of sabre-wielding cavalrymen charged into a huge workers' protest in Manchester.

A talk on freedom of speech with Billy Bragg will launch 150 events across Greater Manchester from June to August.

Music, exhibitions and performances inspired by the themes of protest, democracy and freedom will feature.

Organisers Manchester Histories said the programme will encourage "participation, interaction and reflection"

Highlights include:

• Billy Bragg In Conversation at Manchester Central Library on 7 June

• The Hidden Tableaux's Peterloo Massacre 1819 at Manchester Central Library - a series of photographic artworks depicting the Peterloo Massacre

• A performance of original protest music at the Royal Northern College of Music on 6 July

The violence flared when a troop of cavalrymen charged into a huge workers' protest

Chief executive Karen Shannon said: "The city of Manchester that we know today carries the legacy of the Peterloo Massacre in many different ways - as a city of progress, as a change creator and as a city that will listen and speak out.

"This connection between the past and present flows throughout this exciting and powerful line up of events."

At least 50,000 people arrived at St Peter's Fields on 16 August 1819 to hear radical speaker Henry Hunt campaign for parliamentary reform.

At this time, Manchester had no police force so the Manchester Yeomanry was sent in to prevent any disturbances.

When Hunt began to speak, the army tried to arrest him and attacked anybody who got in its way. At least 11 people were killed and 400 injured.