Congratulations!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMEw8-zD3YI

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXuu3jZd0tE

While a UAF member came to the organising meetings and a LMHR banner was displayed, UAF North East chose not to publicise this event, nor the EDL event, on their website nor on their mailing list; concentrating on building their concert in Barnsley. This is not the fault of their members but of their leaders and of their organisational structure.

Well done! Really enjoyed the event and it got people thinking and talking on issues of racism. The dj's and musicians were great too, again well done.

I was at the event - it was a (successful) attempt to create an anti-racist, positive space in the centre of Newcastle in order to prevent a situation like this time last year (when the NF held a rally on the same spot, racially abusing passers by). About 150 EDL were in town drinking, and this event made sure that them and any other racists/fascists/hardline nationalists knocking about were sidelined.

The event had diverse musicians, performers, and djs, and stalls from Unite against Fascism and No Borders NE (who also ran interactive activities). Show Racism the Red Card, Newcastle ARCH, and Hope Not Hate had provided leaflets and materials to give away. Some people gave out leaflets challenging nationalism - one said that the historical St George was born "in Turkey of black Palestinian descent" and had a reputation for giving hospitality to refugees and fighting injustice, another challenged the concept of "englishness". The slogan "Geordies are proud to be Black and White" was used, and people talked about the contribution people from many ethnic backgrounds had made to our city. Someone put up flags of all the countries/regions that St George is patron saint of. Other people put up banners saying "no-one is illegal" and signs with welcoming messages in many different languages. People made "non-(party) political" (but definitely anti-racist) speeches. There were loads of other individual contributions.

The event attracted a (multi-ethnic) audience, including many people who would not have stopped to take part in the usual sort of anti-fascist rally. I personally had many good conversations, from people saying how much they enjoyed the event, to people telling me about racism they'd suffered in the past, to me (successfully i hope) challenging people's racist assumptions. Did I agree with absolutely everything there? - no, because so many viewpoints were represented. Was the event a success at both creating a friendly space on a day that could have turned nasty, and effectively communicating a resolutely anti-racist and anti-fascist message to the public? Yes definitely on both counts!

ancient briton dragon, still upheld by the "welsh", that was along, long time ago & Britian is really about fairplay, especially since World war 2 when we stood up to Nazis & soviet union almost alone when they united in the molotov-ribbentrop pact to invade Poland,bless em.
The BNP & most of the EDL, what a disgrace!!!

try this:

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/apr/24/st-george