A “loud, proud and colourful” women’s march took over central Manchester to mark International Women’s Day.
The International Women’s Day march danced and chanted its way through from St Peter’s Square to Piccadilly Gardens this Saturday 8th March.
Once in Piccadilly Gardens, the attendees gathered again to hear from international feminists, and to honour victims of femicide and state violence through a Latin American dance.
March attendee Lily Bowker, 21, said: “It’s a really important, loud, proud and colourful thing to keep forefronting the fight against misogyny in the face of rising fascism and the push to return to traditional gender roles.
“Many of the speakers were multiply marginalised, it’s important to remember that our struggle against misogyny goes hand in hand with struggles against imperialism and capitalism and with other marginalised groups.
“It’s really lovely, a lot of the work we do can be exhausting and draining – it’s important but to be in that space of such joy allows us to hold each other in our collective grief.”
The march, organised by Manchester Feminist Coalition, began gathering from 12pm, where they heard speeches from hospitality workers fighting for £200,000 of unpaid wages from Almost Famous Burgers, a trans community organiser and a young Palestinian woman.
Women Asylum Seekers Together, a Manchester based support network, led the crowd in song and dance.
#IWD March in Manchester last Saturday – such a beautiful atmosphere!
— Roma Robinson (@roma-natters.bsky.social) 11 March 2025 at 09:01
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The march then began, estimated at 600 people, walking down to Deansgate, and then north towards the Arndale Shopping Centre – chanting all the way “Not the church! Not the state! Women must control our fate!” and “Jin Jiyan Azadi” (trans. Woman Life Freedom).
Jin Jiyan Azadi is a slogan that originated with the Kurdish Women’s Movement, and shot to fame as the rallying cry for women’s liberation protests in Iran after Mahsa Amini was killed in an Iranian prison. Feminists worldwide now recognise this slogan.
Also present were many Palestinian flags and chants as most Saturdays there is a soldairty march through the city centre.
On its journey, the march encountered limited opposition, from men cat calling and heckling to trans-exclusionary campaigners who disagreed with the march’s inclusive messaging.
The march paused in the Arndale for more speeches and singing – including two Romani traveller women speaking about the historical and current violence their community faces, and the ways they resist together.
The speaker said: “My grandmother, I have her eyes, her lips and I am underlined in speaking for her when she is dead in the ground.
“There is segregation facing my people across Europe. Where is everyone?”
The march continued down Market Street and into Piccadilly Gardens – which was packed with people enjoying the sudden March sun.
They gathered around the Statue of Motherhood and draped its steps with their banners.
A collective of women from Latin America then performed a ritual honouring martyrs of femicide and state violence, holding up pictures of these women and objects representing facets of life including flowers and bread.
A dancer from this performance said: “We see the brutal consequences of a system that denigrates women’s life. We see it in the gender pay gap, in precarious work, the exploitation of migrant women. But today in the streets of Manchester, all over the world we say we are not afraid, we are not divided and we will never be silent again.
“We stand together to remember the women who are no longer with us, who fought for justice, for dignity, for humanity and were taken too soon.”
The day closed with a series of statements from international feminists, including a statement from a Kurdish women’s group, a Serbian woman speaking about the current protests sweeping the country, a long-time local organiser teaching us the history of anti-racist womens refuges in this Manchester, and a speech about the effects of Modi’s far-right government in India.
This march has been running for four years now.
Footage from Roma Robinson and Zee Joy, video editing from Jack Haworth.
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