ABSTRACT
In 2017, Hull, in the North of England, was named UK City of Culture. Beyond economic regenerative interests, the 365 days of transformative culture expressed itself in multiple equality-themed events. Programming practices included large-scale celebrations of equality in the form of the Women of the World Festival, the LGBT50 event series and the Freedom Festival. While such focus on social justice and equality is highly appreciated and relevant in the context of a city of culture, I discuss infrastructural deficiencies encountered in these celebrations of equality. Based on an ethnographic study of the Women of the World Festival associated with Hull UK City of Culture 2017, this chapter highlights infrastructural barriers to equality relating to micro-, meso- and macro-structures of the festival. With attention to structural discrimination in so-called equality-themed events, I argue for the fragility of the notion of equality. While equality was celebrated in the content of the Women of the World Festival, equality needs to be understood as an essential practice and process within the infrastructural conditions of such events.
