In the second part of our series on places in labour history, Jane Donaldson recalls the great co-operative movement pageant held at Wembley Stadium in London in 1938.

Wembley Stadium is known for hosting football tournaments and other sports events, but in 1938, it was host to a large Co-operative Pageant called ‘Towards Tomorrow.’ Held during International Co-operative Day, on 7 July 1938, it was part of a week of co-op festivals promoting working co-operatively, focusing on politics, aesthetics and popular performance of the day. This two-hour spectacle was staged by three of the London Co-operative Societies – London, South Suburban and Watford – to promote co-operative values, peace and democracy.

The pageant was a day of education and entertainment and involved more than 3,000 participants, mainly from co-operative societies and auxiliary organisations such as the Co-operative Women’s Guild and the Woodcraft Folk. It featured Morris Dancers, scenes of capitalist businessmen wielding whips, the story of the Peterloo Massacre and the Rochdale Pioneers, groups from the Woodcraft folk performing dances, and actors reciting speeches from Thomas Paine Henry Hunt, William Cobett, Robert Owen and others. Stories of the Chartist movement, the growth of the Co-operative Wholesale Society and growth of the Co-operative Movement were acted out. There were scenes from the First World War and a call for peace; and during this international pageant a parade of flags and costumes from across the globe wound its way round the stadium with another cry for peace and democracy.

Co-op Party MPs were also present including Caroline Ganley and messages of support were written in the programme including one from C.R. Atlee. The pageant was part of the ‘Popular front’ movement that in the 1930s aimed to bring left-wing groups together to develop a united front against the growing threat of fascism. A pageant earlier in the 1930s had been unsuccessful, and although pageants involving costumed re-enactments of historical events with much community involvement had been popular, it took a lot of persuading for the project to be given the support it needed.

The music was scored by Alan Bush, communist and founder of the Workers Music Association and writing by Montagu Slater, with many others contributing. The event lasted more than four hours and drew an audience of over 60,000 people.

The huge venue allowed for this great choreographed event to take place and was no doubt influential on the Danny Boyle and Frank Cotterel Boyce ‘Isles of Wonder’ opening Ceremony for the 1912 Olympics which highlighted the themes of industrial revolution, mutual and co-operative funding providing a fairness for all and peace across the globe.

The pageant aimed to illustrate the history and principles of the co-operative movement at a time when the co-op movement was at the forefront of social change and promoted a message of social progress and peace through collaboration and shared effort.

Jane Donaldson is Archivist at the Co-operative Archives in Manchester. All images courtesy of the Co-operative Archives. Further information about the event can be found on the Historical Pageants website.