Aviva Studios under fire over free chips and gravy event for the 'working class'

Manchester's Aviva Studios has been criticised for putting on an event for the 'working class' with 'free chips and gravy'.

The £241m arts centre is hosting the Working Class Creative Exchange event later this month, for people to 'get to know fellow working class creatives with an evening of music, stalls and discussion'.

But an advert for the event, urging people to 'get down early for free chips and gravy' has sparked anger for being 'patronising' and 'tone deaf'. The place has already proved controversial, with people questioning the spiralling costs and the type of events being offered there.

Read more: We can't afford Bonfire Night, but spent millions on an arts venue most people won't visit

Only last month we revealed how the arena’s operators Factory International (FI) need another £2m from Manchester City Council sooner than planned after a ‘challenging’ opening year.

Community campaigner Jeremy Hoad says using 'free chips and gravy' to promote the event is 'tactless at best' and just another example of venue bosses 'getting things wrong'.

"The 'chips and gravy' bit of the event description gives the impression of gatekeepers pandering to working class stereotypes and is misplaced and patronising," he said.

Sharing a post about it on X, formerly Twitter, he rather sarcastically said: "Factory International will be installing some temporary allotments at Aviva Studios for this event and there will be a creative collective event on how to make the best roll up and tuck it behind your ear. All whippets are welcome and special storage has been installed for the event for participants to store their flat caps."

Factory International has responded and told the Manchester Evening News that 'the event has been organised by a group of working class creatives who have chosen the food offer', saying it was 'something the group liked themselves and thought would be popular and accessible'.

But Jeremy, who is secretary of Levenshulme Community Association and organiser of Levenshulme Pride, said the venue is still 'facilitating the event as part of a wider programme' and 'should have picked up on' what message it's sending out.

The advert for the free event, on November 27, invites people to 'drop by the social for a panel discussion on working class experience in the creative industries' where they can 'find out about employment, training and creative opportunities at a variety of stalls hosted by The Working Class Movement Library, Odd Arts, GM Business Growth Hub’s EnterprisingYou, Factory International, PINK and more'.

As well as free chips and gravy and a drink for the first 100 attendees, it says 'travel reimbursement will be provided for those who need it so keep your receipts'.

Jeremy, who was an independent candidate during the local elections in Levenshulme, says he doesn't disagree that events like this should be held, but says the messaging behind them needs to be clear.

"This is going out as an event for working class people and there's no definition of what that is. What does that mean? Particularly in the arts sector.

"I can understand the desire to target and provide a network for working class people, but at the same time, in the arts sector, it doesn't really matter whether you're working class, or upper class or whatever - the majority of artists are not earning a lot of money.

"This is just another example of Aviva struggling to connect with people. For me it was built in the wrong place and it's not really setting the world alight in terms of its programming.

"Obviously it wants to appeal to a broad range and is doing all sorts of things, but it hasn't really got a clear identity yet. There seems to be a scattergun approach and it's all over the place - and some of the events seem to be not necessarily as good as they could have been."

A spokesperson for Factory International at Aviva Studios said: "The event has been organised by a group of working class creatives who have chosen the food and designed the event. We are proud to be working with them to ensure all artists and audiences feel welcome at Aviva Studios.

"Through our Factory Academy programme, alongside a range of other initiatives, we are working hard to ensure that people from all backgrounds, and particularly those who have been excluded in the past, have access to opportunities and jobs."

The spokesperson said there are a number of initiatives it's doing in skills and training and providing opportunities for artists and creatives.

The venue celebrated its first year of opening on October 18 and during that time has had 700,000 visitors through its doors and 'thousands of people from the region benefitting from its award-winning training and artist development opportunities'.

Commenting on its one-year anniversary, John McGrath, artistic director and chief executive at Factory International, said: “We are immensely proud of everything that has been achieved in our first year at Aviva Studios.

"At every stage we have focused on creating new possibilities - from our mind-blowing opening production Free Your Mind, to the creation of a pipeline of diverse talent into the arts for generations to come, to new partnerships that have introduced new audiences and new revenue streams.

"We can’t wait to build on that success over the coming months and years as we continue to invite artists, audiences and communities to explore their most exciting ambitions.”

Applications are now open for the 2025 Factory International Fellowship, offering six artists in the North the opportunity to learn alongside international creatives by working on a production at Aviva Studios and the upcoming Manchester International Festival.