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 Club and 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.