Joe Solo to play Durham Miners Gala 2024

Singer songwriter Joe Solo will perform at the 2024 Durham Miners Gala. The musician and activist will sing for the Gala crowds after first marching through the city with Yorkshire’s Hatfield Brigade.

 

Among his songs of hope and defiance will be ‘The Last Miner’, written and recorded this year in celebration of The Big Meeting. The song features children from the former coal mining community of Hatfield, who making the pilgrimage to Durham and will join Joe for his performance.

 

Joe will take to the Gala platform following the conclusion of the speeches.

He said: "Singing at the Big Meeting will be a proper pinch myself moment. You can only dream of stuff like this. I want to sing that song, and get the kids up there for the chorus, and give them the chance to be on that stage and feel that history right there in front of them. That stuff has the power to change lives. To people like us, this is our Glastonbury. I can't wait."

Joe is a founder of founder of the We Shall Overcome campaign – a response from the music community to the government’s austerity programme.

Since 2015, more than 1,100 WSO gigs have raised more than £750,000 in cash, food, clothing and bedding for those hardest hit.

DMA Secretary Alan Mardghum said: “Joe is a good friend of the Durham miners and a great fit for the Gala. We are delighted he will join us on the second Saturday in July. He fights the good fight in everything he does and embodies the spirit and values of the Gala – community, determination, hope and solidarity.”

More details from the rest of this year's Gala programme will be released soon. For information on Gala speakers, please see here.

For more about Joe Solo, please see here.