The Britannia Stadium in Stoke-on-Trent played host to over 20,000 people on Saturday who were there for the hugely successful Love Music Hate Racism festival. Musicians including Peter Doherty and Kelly Rowland spoke out against racism — and urged people to vote against the fascist British National Party (BNP) at the European elections on Thursday 4 June.
The festival attracted huge numbers of young people from Stoke itself, with thousands of teenagers already queueing up as the doors opened at 12 noon. They were treated to a gorgeous sunny day and a stunning range of artists pushing the anti-racist message and speaking out against the BNP. Acts playing the festival included Eddie Izzard, Reverend & The Makers, Kano, Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, Ironik & Chipmunk, Helsinki, Beverley Knight, VV Brown and Mick Jones & the Rotten Hill Gang.
The event was organised by Love Music Hate Racism, Stoke City Football Cluband Stoke-on-Trent City Council. The festival showcased the reality of Stoke — a multiracial city with a strong working class tradition of unity. It demonstrated all too clearly that the vast majority of people in the city reject the BNP’s racist poison and are proud to stand up for equality and justice.
Peter Doherty, speaking exclusively to Love Music Hate Racism, said:
“There’s never any excuse for closed minds trying to judge people on their creed or where they’re from. In reality we’re all immigrants — every step you go back in history, you see new people coming into this country. The BNP likes to boast that it has a stronghold in Stoke, but today we’ve seen that people here coming together and playing together in harmony. Some say you can’t change the way the world is — but I just feel you’ve got to have a crack at it.”
Lee Billingham, national organiser of Love Music Hate Racism, said:
“Saturday’s festival was a huge success in every way. People loved the message of unity and left determined to stay involved in opposing the BNP — and the city will be full of young people wearing Love Music Hate Racism T-shirts the whole summer. The festival brought together more than 20,000 people with global music stars, homegrown heroes and brilliant new acts at the cutting edge of UK music culture – all inside a Premier League football stadium in a city that the BNP would like to claim as its own.”
“The BNP’s thugs now know that thousands more people in Stoke are aware of the truth about the party’s hardcore Nazi politics. They also know that their aim of gaining a parliamentary seat in Stoke will be much harder to achieve now that the city’s real face has been shown.
“We want to give a big thanks to Stoke City FC and Stoke-on-Trent City Council for their vision and tremendous support. We also want to thank all the workers, volunteers, musicians, trade unions and media partners whose support made the event possible.”
Weyman Bennett, joint secretary of Unite Against Fascism, said:
“Scores of coaches came to the Stoke festival from across Britain bringing people who wanted to get involved in the campaign against the Nazi BNP. Local Unite Against Fascism organisers are reporting dozens of new activists from each coach. This will give anti-BNP forces massive boost in the last few days of the European election campaign. This festival has helped lay the foundation for a new generation of anti-fascists, both in Stoke and around the country.”
