Date announced for UpRise
By LiseS | Monday, February 22, 2010, 21:39
We recently reported that Finsbury Park residents Mike Barnard and Freya Van Lessen had been successful in their bid to re-stage an anti-racism music festival in Finsbury Park after MayorBoris Johnson removed funding for the annual Rise event last year.
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Jimmy Cliff plays Rise 2008
UpRise, the replacement event, is now provisionally booked for Sunday, July 11 in Finsbury Park. 2,500 people signed a petition demanding the reinstatement of the festival, including previous Rise performers Roots Manuva, Asian Dub Foundation and rappers Ty aand Beardyman.
"We believe that events against racism are just as important as they always were, especially now the BNP is ascendant in some parts of the country," said Asian Dub Foundation in support of the new show. "Events that bring people together to fight racism should be on the increase, not being cut back!"
Barnard and Van Lessen hope that some of these artists will return to the new event, which will have a capacity of 20,000 spectators. As well as the main stage, UpRise will provide a stage for local talent and a DJ bus.
Barnard said, "We feel that in the current climate it's very important that people feel safe and inclusive - racism is a very real social issue and we need people to draw attention to it."
UpRise is supported by the National Assembly Against Racism, Unison and the SERTUC union. The organisers now hope to raise £150,000 towards staging the event. Donations can be made via PayPal here (you'll need to press the "Donate" button).
Comments
Ah, I see it's got a security timeout on the link. Serves me right for trying to be too clever! You can donate by going to tinyurl.com/llkeao and pressing "Donate" - that will take you to the PayPal page.
By LiseS at 21:38 on 22/02/10
ReportThe Paypal link in this article doesn't work
By Sarahkk at 09:07 on 22/02/10
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