The Peace Not War Festival is four nights of live music, film, photography, and art - to celebrate the anniversary of the biggest simultaneous human action ever when, on Feb 15th 2003, over ten million people in 150 cities world-wide held peaceful protests to demonstrate their desire for peace, not war.
With over 70 bands playing on two stages, an art exhibition and a cinema, this Festival is the biggest anti-war arts event ever in the UK, the biggest February 15th celebration in the world, and will be broadcast globally by Indymedia. Staged by the producers of the Peace Not War CD and the Festival of Flight crew, the Peace Not War Festival is intended to reawaken last year's vibe in preparation for the next phase of the anti-war movement.
Although the war in Iraq is officially over, more people have died since the conflict 'ended' than under the US attack. So far 10,000 civilians have been killed, more than 20,000 are injured, and 600 coalition soldiers have died. Iraq is left suffering a political and public health crisis, with many of its civilians left without access to basic medicines and clean drinking water, and radioactive schrapnel is scattered everywhere.
The justification for this war, as stated by Tony Blair, was that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction which posed a threat to our country. However, when asked about the accuracy of this intelligence, Chief UN weapons inspector David Kay said: "Turns out we were all wrong, and that is deeply disturbing." David Kay resigned last week saying there are no weapons of mass destruction to be found, yet George Bush and Tony Blair are continuing their 'war on terror'.
While last February 15th was a massive political statement, the war went ahead because the politicians weren't listening. It's increasingly clear that the "war machine" will continue killing until the people bypass the politicians and turn off the machine themselves. The next global protest day is on 20th March 2004, and local actions are planned for another international demonstration. The Peace Not War Festival and the planned series of new Peace Not War CDs are intended to reawaken the energy of last February 15th, motivate and fund a wordwide peace movement which would challenge our goverments' war plans before George Bush can say “let’s roll”.
What makes this Festival so uniquely special is its multi-media components. Raya VJs (who provide the visuals for Nitin Sawhney, the Big Chill Festival and others) will project their images of peace and protest on over 25 screens, with live and interactive video-mixing. There will be an exhibition of anti-war and pro-peace art, paintings, sculptures and photo/electronic prints, which will stimulate festival-goers on their way between the two music stages. Local school kids from Hackney will make a special contribution to the exhibition.
Short creative and documentary films about war and the peace movement will be shown in a 'chilled-out' space, with decor provided by The Magic Loungeabout.
The festival will be broadcast globally by live audio stream on the Internet from Indymedia, the international network of DIY reporters publishing uncensored news online. Visit www.indymedia.org.uk
The 2100-capacity venue Hackney Ocean is the only venue in London designed for such a multi-media extravaganza, and is fully wheelchair-accessible.
Ocean is located opposite Hackney Town Hall and within 5 minutes of overground stations at Hackney Central, London Fields (closed Suns), and 10 minutes from Hackney Downs.
The Peace Not War Music Festival is supported by Big Issue, Festival of Flight, Indymedia, New Internationalist, RAYA, Ocean, OnMusic, StreetLevel and anonymous individuals.
"I will always remember with pride the fantastic moment on February 15th last year when, as Mayor of London, I was able to officially welcome 2 million people to the biggest political demonstration in 2000 years of British history. The sea of protesters who gathered in Hyde Park were like a microcosm of Britain, representing all classes, all ages, all races, all religions and all regions of the country. One year on, and with the Bush government moving towards admitting that Iraq did not have any weapons of mass destruction, it is more clear than ever that the war with Iraq was a war for oil, and we were right to oppose it. There has been a strong and powerful tradition in this country of fusing music and politics to raise popular consciousness and it has been tremendously uplifting to witness the huge participation of a new, young generation of activists in the anti-war movement. The Peace Not War CD and Festival has played an important part in this and my best wishes go to all the people who will come together in Hackney to celebrate the achievements of the peace movement, and I hope this party inspires the movement to keep pushing"
