Leicester’s Radical Summer

Leicester folk have had an entertaining and enlightening summer this year.

Kicking off proceedings was the gay Mardi Gras on July 29th. Originally cancelled because of rightwing threats, but then revived by Unity Against Prejudice, a coalition determined not to let the fascists set the rules, the event ended up a great success. 400 people turned up to samba through the streets in defiance of bigotry and hatred. Neither the 60 NFers who paraded through the city centre, nor the Anti-Nazi League who, piqued at their inability to control the agenda tried to organise an alternative demo, managed to spoil the day's fun. And people are already talking about next year's party.

Following this, on August 19th we reclaimed a patch of derelict land in the city centre and turned it into a colourful garden, complete with swing. The guerrilla gardeners also gave out locally- produced organic wine and plums harvested from a deserted garden.

Everyone - gardeners, the public, and even a couple of passing policemen - had a great time, and we had excellent media coverage - the local paper, radio and TV were all unreservedly positive. The garden is still doing well, so hopefully we'll be able to pick our strawberries from there next year.

And to finish with a bang, the very next week was our Reclaim the Streets. A major road in the city was blocked for 4 hours of wild music and even wilder water fights. The police were heavy- handed at first, but mellowed when they realised they couldn't win. The support of the local multicultural community was amazing - a local shoe-shop owner let us run the sound system from his shop when the generator failed, and one 72 year-old resident was out with us dancing for the whole 4 hours. Again, the press coverage was completely positive. Quote of the day - Policeman to shop owner: "Do you feel intimidated by these people?"; Shop owner: "No, I feel intimidated by you".

So, with all that, plus lively campaigns to save local allotments and trees, Leicester's had a pretty active time of it. And if anyone wants Gujarati or Bengali versions of flyers for future street parties, get in touch with LEAF.