The great get together as an experiment in convivial politics

The Great Get Together was first held in the United Kingdom in June 2017, to commemorate the death of Labour Party MP, Jo Cox, murdered by a far-right extremist a year earlier, and to celebrate diversity in local communities. I argue that the Great Get Together offers an illuminating experiment in convivial politics; a concept discussed and developed further in the article. Drawing upon scholarship about events and media events, the article traces the mediated formations and flows of the Great Get Together as it is promoted by mainstream media and by citizens sharing affinities and experiences on social media. By examining the aesthetics and styling of convivial politics promoted by those involved in the tapestry of Great Get Together events, drawing upon Robin Wagner-Pacifici's framework of ‘political semiosis’, I critically assess its capacity for building solidarity across political divides, alongside the limitations.