EVERY second Saturday in July something huge happens in Durham City. It’s not just a get-together, it’s a powerful event. It’s the Big Meeting — or the Miners’ Gala as some call it — and it’s ours, it’s our day.

It belongs to the working class, to workers of the world. It’s an international celebration, it’s an outpouring of solidarity and togetherness that’s second to none.

It’s a celebration, a protest, a reunion, a declaration. It’s the biggest event in the socialist calendar.

It’s the day when we come together, when folk from all over the world come to celebrate, to commemorate and to show we are still here.

Folk come with family, with friends, with trade unions, with banners and with bands. It’s a day when we show the world that solidarity matters, that standing together is the way forward.

The Big Meeting isn’t simply nostalgia, it’s a happy day, a day to show resistance, it’s a day to enjoy but it’s also a day to listen, to learn and to plan for the future. It’s a day when we say to our children, this is who we are. We are proud of our heritage.

We march through the narrow streets of Durham, arm in arm, shoulder to shoulder with comrades.

We march proudly, heads held high behind our banners; our beautiful banners, they are another source of pride, they tell our story, they fly high as we march behind them to the music, the powerful music of our brass bands.

Durham Day, the Gala or the Big Meeting, whatever we call it gives us inspiration, it gives us courage to continue the fight, our fight against the capitalist system.

We dance, we laugh, we sing. The bairns marching with us, they are the future, we nurture them, we show them the way.

It’s the day we meet folk we might only see on Durham Day, but it's like we've never been apart, distance does not mar our friendship. It’s the day when new friendships are formed, when we meet folk who are fighting the same battles as us wherever they live. It’s the day when folk come from all over the world because they know what the Gala means.

The warmth, the colour, the sounds, they lift my spirits, they remind me I’m not alone, there is an army of foot soldiers out there fighting the same battle. The battle for fairness, for justice, for equality and for freedom.

My Durham Day starts the week before the actual second Saturday in July. It’s the events in that week that fill the heart, that prepare us for our day, the biggest day in the international workers’ calendar.

I’m in the marketplace from around 7am watching and waiting. Slowly the crowd builds, the banners come forward, the bands strike a tune as we all line up ready to go.

It’s palpable, the feeling of love, of comradeship, it’s a feeling I get nowhere else, it’s emotional as friends approach, as comrades wave across the marketplace, as we shout our anthem, “Here we go.” Then the big bass drum sounds boom-boom, that’s when the tears come, that’s when I look at John, my partner, and he’s crying too. Not tears of sadness but tears of pride, of joy.

We get in line behind our banner, the sound of cameras clicking, recording the day, the bairns laughing. It can be the hottest day of the year or it might be pouring with rain, but we march, we stand, we wait. It may take us hours to reach the racecourse where the main event takes place but we do it and we will continue to do it.

The atmosphere on the field is electric, there’s candy floss, there’s ice cream, there’s food, there’s good craic then there’s the speeches. I’ve sat and listened to the speeches since I was a small child, instructed by my mam to sit still and listen, sit quietly and learn. I learned so much from those speeches, they helped me decide what I want from life, not just for me but for everyone.

I want equality, freedom, justice and so much more. We can reach our socialist goal if we try to live what Durham Day teaches us, live as socialists, care for all.

It’s our day. You can do what you like today, you can stand on your head if you like. It’s Durham Day. (May Barker, my great aunt, 1980s.)