A MASS picnic and festival will take place this weekend to mark the 30th anniversary of one of the 20th century’s most brutal attacks by the state on its own citizens — the so-called battle of Orgreave.

On June 18 1984, thousands of miners gathered to picket Orgreave cokeworks near Rotherham in South Yorkshire, a little over three months after the start of the miners’ strike against pit closures.

Police directed pickets to an area of land which left them hemmed in on three sides.

Once the miners had been herded together, police mounted a savage attack on them, sending in heavily clad cavalry wielding long truncheons which battered down fleeing pickets.

The cavalry charges were followed by riot police on foot.

Helmeted and carrying shields, they battered lightly clad miners who were already down and pursued and attacked others.

The attack continued as miners fled into the nearby community of Orgreave, with police cavalry charging through the streets.

More than 90 miners were charged with riot, an offence which can carry a life sentence.

But months later every case was thrown out following the emergence of police collusion in preparation of evidence.

But no officer has ever been charged with any offence, despite ample evidence of assault and perjury, among other offences.

Each year a picnic is held at the site of the attack. Usually the picnic is poorly attended.

But in November 2012, a campaign was launched to discover the truth about what happened at Orgreave. 

The Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign is demanding to know who planned the police attack, who gave police the authority to run riot and how the police attack was planned.

The campaign was inspired by the success of the families of the 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster — the Sheffield football stadium catastrophe in 1989 which left 96 Liverpool football fans dead.

The stadium was being policed by South Yorkshire Police — which was among the forces deployed against the miners at Orgreave five years earlier.

It took 25 years for the Hillsborough families to begin to discover how South Yorkshire Police, the media and politicians had lied about what happened at Hillsborough.

The Orgreave campaigners want to uncover what happened at the infamous Orgreave picket in 1984.

Widespread publicity surrounding the campaign is likely to ensure a large turnout at this year’s event.

Speakers include Ken Capstick, former vice-president of Yorkshire area of the National Union of Mineworkers.

The line-up was to have included Rail, Maritime and Transport union general secretary Bob Crow, who tragically died in March.

The day’s entertainment will include theatre, live music, an exhibition, acoustic tent, children’s activities, food and real ale.

Although the event will have a festive atmosphere, the underlying purpose will be serious — to maintain the focus on Orgreave and what happened there 30 years ago and the campaign for truth and justice.

The event is organised by the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign and the Justice for Mineworkers Campaign, at Catcliffe Recreation Ground, from 11am-7pm on Saturday June 14. Visit www.otjc.org.uk for more information.