JOHN HAMILTON

The Great Hall is known for many things, but for me, I can only think of masks and balls. It was in February 1992 when my friends invited me to a Masquerade Ball taking place in Manchester Town Hall to raise money for Nicaragua.

I was working as a graphic designer and was brought in to design the publicity and marketing material for the event. The event itself hosted a range of up and coming artists and performers from around Manchester, but ticketholders were also encouraged to make their own masks and headdresses.

No mask, no entry. There would be a prize of a weekend in Paris, Barcelona and Berlin. The annual event that took place in February ran for 4 years and the beauty of it was the effort that people put into the masks to win the prize. It was such a sight to see everyone dancing in the great hall with all this beautiful tapestry on the walls and everyone wearing these huge fantastical masks.

It was a magical and captivating evening in the gothic splendour of theTown Hall,featuring artists such as Caroline Aherne as Sister Mary Immaculate and the 14 piece band, Suns of Arqa.