LaborFest's monthlong lineup honors Mitford by including some lighthearted events, so don't call it humorless -- Samantha Davidson Green's short film Couch Encounter, for example, is a comedy about a socialite's encounter with two dayworkers she hires for her "very special party." The "Smokin' Word" evening hosted by Daisy Anarchy also sounds anything but stuffy, and labor chestnut though it may be, 1954's copper-mining strike film Salt of the Earth is always good for a few yuks.
Other planned proceedings include Labor Maritime History walks, bike rides, and a boat tour; there's also UCSC Professor Dana Frank reading from 3 Strikes, the book she co-authored with Howard Zinn and Robin D.G. Kelley, and Fire on Pier 32, a new play about the struggles of longshore militants. And for a spot of revelry, check out It's Hard to Tell a Singer by the Song, a film about singer Hazel Dickens; the Bastille Day celebration; and the Red Riot Revue, with union songbirds Folk This!. You won't even have to work to have a good time.
