9:00am Tuesday 15th July 2008
By Elizabeth Pears
You can change the message but you can't change the spirit, was the resounding tone of Rise festival.
Thousands of music-lovers across the country poured into Finsbury Park on Sunday to enjoy the free show headlined by reggae legend Jimmy Cliff.
Many were wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the slogan 'Love music, hate racism' and some rebels waved the socialist flag around Haringey's biggest park, flouting the ban on political campaigns.
This followed Mayor of London Boris Johnson's decision to drop the festival's traditional anti-racist ethos in favour of a "celebration of culture and community".
Political groups like the National Assembly against Racism were banned from the event. But members of the Socialist party and Trades Union Congress (TUC) protested outside asking festival-goers to sign a petition to reinstate the event's original message.
Hundreds of signatures were collected and Keith Flett, president of Haringey TUC, said he was "pleased" with the response.
Former Big Brother contestant and Socialist party member Carole Vincent said: "If Boris doesn't support an anti-racist message, he is saying to London that he doesn't take racism seriously.
"The BNP now has a seat on the London Assembly. Members are wearing suits to look respectable and have watered down their hateful politics to sound respectable but they are still the same as they always were. We shouldn't be giving them anymore scope by dropping festivals that fights their ideals."
First known as Respect, Rise was set up in 1996 by the TUC to fight racism in the wake of Stephen Lawrence's murder and won support from the Mayor's office in 2001.
The Boris backlash rocked the main stage where MC Rodney P whipped the masses into a frenzy after shouting, "I don't know about you but anti-racism works for me".
He was joined on stage with the Dub Pistols and recently-reformed Ska band The Specials.
Though many mourned the loss of the festival's original message, the park still welcomed a crowd of diverse ethnicities and ages.
Natasha Morris, 25, from Woolwich, said: "I come every year and the crowd hasn't changed a bit. Anti-racism will always be the heart of Rise. What annoys me is that Boris said the anti-racist message excluded people. When did anti-fascism mean anything but being united?
"Look around you, look at all the different people standing side by side. This is what makes me proud to be a Londoner."
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