Always and Always Facing Toward the Light – a free event on Sunday 3 March

A year-long national celebration marking the centenary of the first British women getting the vote culminates in a spectacular finale in Leicester – and you can reserve your place at this free event.

The story of the suffragette Alice Hawkins – the shoe factory machinist who led the women’s suffrage movement in Leicester in the early 1900s – will be brought to life on Sunday 3 March in a stunning event that will use large-scale projection to create an unforgettable experience for spectators in the city’s new market square.

Video-mapped imagery projected onto the rear of the Corn Exchange will transform the building, with light, sound and archive footage being used to help tell Alice’s story like never before.

Organisers say it’s the first time that an event of this kind has been seen in Leicester – and it promises to be an experience that no-one, of any age, will want to miss.

Called ‘Always and Always Facing Toward the Light’ – the motto of the Leicester suffragette movement – the event is supported by funding from the Government’s Centenary Cities fund. Leicester is one of seven cities in the Centenary Cities project marking 100 years of Votes for Women, funded by the Government Equalities Office, with a range of exhibitions, events and the launch of the Alice Hawkins statue in New Market Square.

The show will be repeated three times on the evening of Sunday 3 March – at 6.30pm, 7.45pm and 9pm – with each performance lasting 30 minutes.

Admission to each show will be by wristband, available free of charge from Visit Leicester on Gallowtree Gate, the Highcross Customer Service Desk, and New Walk Museum. 

Inspired by Alice’s life, the event will also focus on the growth of the suffragette movement and the legacy of the suffragettes’ fight for equal rights, with interviews with women and girls from present-day Leicester bringing the story right up to date.

Live performance, a bespoke soundtrack and a 40-strong choir will also feature in the event, which will bring the UK’s centenary celebrations to a close, just a few days before International Women’s Day.

Anyone with a wristband can also take advantage of some great linked offers in Leicester city centre, including 33 Cank Street, Clarks, Bruxelles, Firebug, Bill’s, Femi Health and Beauty, and free admission to the King Richard III Visitor Centre (after 2pm on Sunday 3 March). Click here for more details.