Celebrate “The First Modern Lesbian” this April!

🌈Anne Lister Festival 2025🌈
Born in 1791, Anne Lister became one of the most interesting women of the nineteenth century. She is known as ‘the first modern lesbian’. A successful woman entrepreneur and landowner, she kept an extensive diary, partly in code, running to four million words. The diary reveals her many affairs with other women throughout her life.

From the 29th to the 6th of April, Halifax and the surrounding area are celebrating her 234th birthday with a week-long festival which will bring her story to life. These are some of the events we are looking forward to:

❤️What: Anne Lister Festival Community Regency Tea Dance
🧡When: Saturday 29th March 2025 7.00 -10.00pm
💛Where: Todmorden Community College, Burnley Rd, Todmorden OL14 7BX
💚How Much?! £19.50
💙Tea Dances have long been at the heart of the gay community and an important part of gay culture. So, The Anne Lister Festival is very excited to bring you their version of a Regency Tea Dance, which will pay homage to both Anne Lister and the wider struggle that the queer community faces.

❤️What: Anne Lister’s Shibden: Tower & Tunnel tour
🧡When: Tuesday 1st April 9.00 – 10.00am
💛Where: Shibden Hall, Listers Road, Halifax, HX3 6XG
💚How much?! £27.50
💙After making your own way to Anne Lister’s former home of Shibden
Hall, you will have private entry into the Hall with exclusive, rare
access to go up to the Library Tower that Anne Lister had designed
before she went on her ill-fated trip to Russia.
A visit to the gardener’s tunnel outside in the Hall’s grounds will be
included exclusively in the 2025 tour! This area is not normally
accessible to the general public

❤️What: Heritage Tour at The Piece Hall
🧡When: Tuesday 1stApril 1.30-2.30pm
💛Where: The Piece Hall, Halifax
💚How Much?! £8.75
💙Experience a guided tour by one of The Piece Hall’s knowledgeable heritage guides. Explore this unique building and hear fascinating stories from Georgian Halifax to the present day. Find out more about The Piece Hall through Anne Lister’s words and the stunning 2021 sculpture ‘Contemplation’ situated in The Piece Hall’s iconic courtyard.

Why not stay at Earby Holiday Hostel while celebrating the life of this amazing woman?