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Cardiff Unemployed Disco: The Jobless Party in Wales

Dr Roundglasses | 22.12.2010 19:50 | Social Struggles | Workers' Movements

A short report of the recent unemployed cultural convention in west Cardiff

Yesterday afternoon - in response to the highest levels of unemployment in the UK and S.Wales for decades - Cardiff had its first UNEMPLOYED DAYTIME DISCO.

Coming from across the country a host of diverse DJs, live acoustic musicians and artists were on hand to entertain The event asked people to radically swap daytime TV – a marker of unemployed times with daytime dancing in an innovative move to raise the spirits of those without a job.

In celebration of the first lunar eclipse in three years the party had a Winter Solstice theme and people came down to “meet like minded people, share ideas, skills, information, knowledge and dance like there is no future”.

Doctor Roundglasses, a local community activist reported,

"I think we all just participated in history in the making. There will be greater and much bigger discos to come, moments that will go down in musical and political history - but yesterday afternoon was special - the first disco...

Despite snow and treacherous weather, a mob of young unemployed men and women made the trek to the warmth of the Rockin' Chair, a great little West Indian bar and restaurant in the deprived Riverside area of Cardiff to drink rum and beer and be entertained by a motley crew of performers including buskers, piano players, guitarists, electro beats, DJs and poets - some had travelled down all the way from Swansea - let's hope they start their own disco there!

Perhaps the most telling moment was when a young worker who had left work early to come said 'I regret having a job, I wish I was unemployed, you guys have so much fun' - I almost wiped a tear from my eye!"

To get involved in future UNEMPLOYED DAYTIME DISCOS contact -  thomas_muntzer_cardiff@hotmail.co.uk

Dr Roundglasses
- e-mail: thomas_muntzer_cardiff@hotmail.co.uk
- Homepage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WhhSBgd3KI