HOME | IMC UK | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Support Us

Liverpool Indymedia

Merseyside May Day Festival A "Wonderful Event"

Neon Black | 05.05.2010 15:21 | Liverpool

May Day was celebrated in fitting style over the weekend, as the festival organised by the Merseyside Mayday Collective attracted around five hundred to St Luke's ('bombed-out') church on Berry Street.



Preparations for the festival began a year ago, partly in response to the pitiful TUC event at Wallasey's Central Park. Writing at the time, /a>I commented that:

"Against the backdrop of a mounting crisis engulfing thousands on Merseyside and millions around the world, there was something almost tragicomic about the inadequacy of the event. [...] The steep prices are no doubt one part of the explanation for the extremely low turnout. Another is that hardly any publicity had gone out. But more importantly, this is symptomatic of an event organised by a bureaucracy that has significant resources, yet few surviving links with working class communities, and even less credibility within them."

With thoughts like these in mind, a group of grassroots class struggle activists set about trying to reclaim International Workers' Day - in direct opposition to the bureaucrats who had strangled all vitality out of previous celebrations.

The festivities began at 1 pm, as the stalls opened around the perimeter of the church. Each of the stalls was run by a volunteer from a grassroots organisation, from anarchists and communists to guerilla gardeners, and Nerve magazine to the feminist Angry Women Of Liverpool. Refreshments were provided by Food From Nowhere (who are based in the Next To Nowhere social centre), and later by dockers' pub The Casa. There was much good-humoured debate around the stalls, and an overwhelming sense that more can be achieved by combining forces in the months and years to come.

Inside the church itself, various musicians played to an audience who were enjoying the sunshine and unique atmosphere as well as the free music. A personal musical highlight was the performance by Liverpool Socialist Choir, who sang a capella versions of a South African trade union song, Italian anti-fascist anthem Bella Ciao, and clenched fist classics The Internationale and Bandiera Rossa.

This was followed by the Picketers' Platform, which saw speakers from the Industrial Workers of the World and the Solidarity Federation argue for workers' control over their own struggles, their own workplaces, and their own lives. Greg Dropkin from Liverpool Friends Of Palestine also asked the crowd not to vote for Parliamentary candidates who support the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

By all accounts, the 'official' TUC march was much better attended this year, perhaps due to the closeness of the election, the Liverpool location, and the effect of the new festival in town. However, after marching around the city centre, it heard appeals for votes from local Labour leader Joe Anderson, plus trade union bureaucrats 'Red' Len McCluskey and Emily Kelly. All three seek to maintain their privileged positions, whilst ultimately accepting the profit system and division of the world into rival states.

In stark contrast, the gathering at St Luke's was about working class people empowering themselves, and taking steps to improve their own lives. It was far from perfect, and serious attention will have to be given to the question of how we fund future May Days (even volunteer-run festivals on this scale cost a lot of money!), but as person after person told the tall, long-haired guy in the steward's jacket, it was a "wonderful event", and definitely a solid foundation to build on.

Neon Black
- Homepage: http://dreaming-neon-black.blogspot.com

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

Topics

Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

[navigation.actions2016]

[navigation.actions2015]

[navigation.actions2014]

NATO 2014

Actions 2013

G8 2013

Actions 2012

Workfare

Actions 2011

2011 Census Resistance
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Occupy Everywhere

Actions 2010

Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands

Actions 2009

COP15 Climate Summit 2009
G20 London Summit
Guantánamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
University Occupations for Gaza

Actions 2008

2008 Days Of Action For Autonomous Spaces
Campaign against Carmel-Agrexco
Climate Camp 2008
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Smash EDO
Stop Sequani Animal Testing
Stop the BNP's Red White and Blue festival

Actions 2007

Climate Camp 2007
DSEi 2007
G8 Germany 2007
Mayday 2007
No Border Camp 2007

Actions 2006

April 2006 No Borders Days of Action
Art and Activism Caravan 2006
Climate Camp 2006
Faslane
French CPE uprising 2006
G8 Russia 2006
Lebanon War 2006
March 18 Anti War Protest
Mayday 2006
Oaxaca Uprising
Refugee Week 2006
Rossport Solidarity
SOCPA
Transnational Day of Action Against Migration Controls
WSF 2006

Actions 2005

DSEi 2005
G8 2005
WTO Hong Kong 2005

Actions 2004

European Social Forum
FBI Server Seizure
May Day 2004
Venezuela

Actions 2003

Bush 2003
DSEi 2003
Evian G8
May Day 2003
No War F15
Saloniki Prisoner Support
Thessaloniki EU
WSIS 2003

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech

Publish Your News


Temporary Scroogle search

-->