Some weeks ago, I had the fortune to attend the annual festival organised by the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB/PVDA), Manifiesta. The PTB/PVDA is rightfully a subject of increasing discussion amongst pockets of the British left, with reports such as Joe Todd’s Between Autonomy and Control providing insight into the party’s structures, its organising efforts and its social composition. I first encountered the PTB/PVDA at The World Transformed 2025 during the frenzied Your Party era, with multiple panels including key members of the party, such as the Prometheus event with Kim De Witte. At this festival, I had the chance to have a long discussion over drinks with key figures in the party, providing me with plenty of opportunities to pick their brains. From our discussions, I found a vision of a functioning socialist political vehicle which took the questions of organisational coherence seriously, base-building in working-class communities and political discipline. It’s for this reason that I decided to make the journey from Manchester to Ostend to attend the party’s yearly festival, Manifiesta. 

Grace Blakeley described Manifiesta as being “like The World Transformed on steroids”, and that rings true in a large number of ways. The festival itself is a two-day event that brings together party members of the PTB/PVDA, from all groups within the party’s membership. The festival is held on a racecourse, organised into a large circle of various tents and buildings from the party’s various organisations alongside two primary stages for musicians. Alongside these, there is an area for international delegations from trade unions and an international section for delegate socialist organisations. The schedule is packed, with panels varying from discussions on trade union strategy and Palestine solidarity, eco-socialism, and high-profile interviews/discussions such as this year’s appearances of Hasan Piker and Gustavo Petro. 

In attendance were a wide number of organisations from across the world, some of which were there as guests to speak on panels and interviews, and others which had sent a delegation for a stall in the festival’s international section. I interacted most heavily with a few members of the DSA, including Co-Chair Megan Romer, a member of the DSA’s Marxist-Leninist caucus Red Star, ex-ANC MP and activist/author Andrew Feinstein, who was launching his new book, alongside a few members of Linksjugend [‘Solid] Berlin who shared my apartment. It’s consistently refreshing to deeply engage with those from overseas – to discuss strategy in differing social, economic and political contexts and to place your own problems in a wider perspective. 

One particular distinction became clear to me and other British party-tourists when further considering Blakeley’s assertion of the festival’s likeness to our own major left festival, which was that there are two different functions being played by the respective festivals. The World Transformed has largely functioned as a gathering of organisers and activists – those who are coming don’t need “converting” to the cause, nor is there an active attempt to bring them into a wider political structure – it usually functions as a gathering where there is an inwardly-facing focus. This is not a criticism, nor is it even a failure – it serves its purpose by allowing for a high concentration of those active on the left to gather for discussions of strategy, political theory and organisation. In short, The World Transformed is a festival aimed at those already active on the left for the purpose of facilitating discussion and development. In contrast, Manifiesta is a festival which has a firmly mass-based function; panels do not go into deep strategic discussion, nor is there much consideration of more theoretical issues – this is not a failure, it is an active attempt to use the festival as a means through which people can have their first interaction with new ideas, and therefore can be brought into the wider base of the party. It is a platform that allows for the party to shout its ideas loudly, and to announce actions/campaigns for the next year. This is not to say that the discussions at Manifiesta were inadequate or unengaging, but that very few were based at an activist audience as opposed to a wider audience. This mass-facing strategy of Manifiesta was visible in the space within the festival; Redfox, the party’s youth wing, had a whole section of the festival with football, gaming consoles, alongside entertainment and games. In addition, the party’s student wing Comac, had a tent with food, pool tables and a mix of speeches/discussions. Alongside the extensive political activities, the festival has a remarkable amount to offer in terms of music, food, cultural activities, etc. 

I believe that this mass-facing strategy that underlies Manifiesta is one of its key strengths. By aiming at bringing in the widest possible attendance, the festival essentially acts as a yearly recruitment drive and a political rally, increasing membership numbers and reproducing the political morale of the organisation. This wider focus also allows for the festival to take on a much higher profile – this year the festival drew attacks from the Belgian Minister of Defence, Theo Francken, who called for the festival’s cancellation and referred to it as a “commie-festival” – he also attacked it on the grounds of Hasan Piker’s attendance, which continues to be some strange diplomatic point of contention given the Home Office’s refusal to allow him in the UK for the Socialist Workers Party’s festival Marxism 2026. To the displeasure of Francken, his public opposition to the festival resulted in it selling out of weekend tickets – a fact gleefully conveyed to me by one of the PTB/PVDA’s party militants. Translating this increased political attention into attendance provides the party with a fantastic opportunity to recruit and build momentum for their campaigns. For example, the PTB/PVDA’s main tent on the festival grounds held discussions on a wide number of party campaigns (which were, admittedly, difficult to understand due to the language barrier) – however from speaking to party members who were volunteering at the tent, there was a large focus on recruitment drives on the day, ensuring that an admission of interest was taken further into party membership. 

A key moment of the festival is the “Central Moment” held at the main stage. This acts as a party rally, in which key figures within the party and associated organisations (trade unions, international solidarity campaigns, etc.) address the crowd and announce upcoming campaigns and actions. While my barely passing GCSE-level understanding of French brought me through the bare bones of what was being conveyed, the energy within the rally was palpable. After a number of speakers addressed the crowd on topics such as pension reform, Cuba solidarity, anti-capitalism and trade union action, the rally concluded with a performance of the Internationale in both Dutch and French. 

In conclusion, Manifiesta serves a purpose as being part of a wider outreach strategy for the PTB/PVDA, and it does this incredibly well. Too often, events held by the far left can struggle to reach out beyond political echo chambers and the “network left” – Manifiesta represents a great example of a party which has figured out how to break out of this cycle of self-isolation and how to engage a wider mass base. This isn’t to argue that political depth or “high politics” should be sacrificed on the altar of mass politics, but that there must be a place for both. In order for a socialist project in Britain to develop politically and strategically, it requires forums such as The World Transformed to have these discussions, but it also requires an active effort to connect with the masses through intentionally mass-facing events. We cannot rely on the strength of our argument to convince people of our cause; we must make an active effort through a coordinated strategy to bring them into our organisations and introduce them to the basis of our politics.