Some of the workshops for September’s major radical get-together have now been released by organisers Plan C, and include an intriguing mix of self-defence workshops, preparations for a Women’s Strike in 2018 and a total rethink of our broken higher education systems.

The festival, which will run at Thornbridge Outdoors Centre in the Peak District from September 1st-3rd, is in its second year and is a major gathering for the autonomist-inspired wing of the libertarian movement, featuring discussions, plenaries, workshops, music, food, walking, climbing and socialising. Tickets are £60 standard, or an £80 solidarity rate helping to fund the £35 supported tickets, which can be bought here.

For more details, check out the Fast Forward FAQ. For updates, keep an eye on their Facebook page. Brief descriptions of the currently announced workshops are below:

Red Gyms, Radical Self Defence and Counter-Power-Punches

Self-defence, martial arts and general sports classes are being run across the country with a radical, antifascist and left wing ethos. The red gym tradition is prominent in radical Spanish and Italian scenes, with the aims of skill-sharing, bringing activists together through sport, and equipping us with skills for street confrontation.

This workshop will firstly introduce the Red Gym tradition and its importance in building counter power, using examples from the Brighton and Manchester scenes. In the second hour, we will go into a practical training session which will be open to people of all abilities.

C-Planning the University

What will we do with the university after we’ve won, once we’ve overthrown capitalism and smashed the state? Asking this question is crucial if we are to wage anything more than purely defensive campaigns. If we want to transform the world we need a plan.

Organising a UK Women’s Strike in 2018

In 2017 women across the world went on strike on March 8th. In 40 countries, from Argentina, to Ireland and New York – thousands of women marched, assembled and withdrew their labour from both their paid and unpaid jobs. In the US the International Women Strike platformed six intersectional and radical demands: End to Gender Violence, Reproductive Justice for All, Labour Rights, Full Social Provisioning, For an Antiracists and Anti-imperialist Feminism, Environmental Justice for All. In Ireland, women used the leverage of a women’s strike to continue to push for a repeal of the 8th amendment that makes abortion constitutionally impossible in Ireland.

In this workshop we will come together to reflect on our experiences of feminist organising and start to plan for a Women’s Strike in 2018 in the UK.

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Hate the Fascists

Shut Down LD50 originally formed to close down a far-right art gallery which had appeared in Dalston, London, but has since refocused on looking at the cultural output of more recent far-right forms, from alt-right tactics and Pepe the Frog to a huge array of “taboo breaking” memes which have helped push fascism and hardline racism into the public consciousness.