It is understandable why the rich and their lap dogs would want the it not to happen: the fayre is large oneday event with a festival feel organised entirely by the community. Thats right no burocrats or profiteers involved. It takes place on midsummer common in cambridge on the first saturday of june, has done for years, as an opportunity for local arists and bands to give their work an airing and gives great coverage to the community groups and campaigns that so often get subordinated to money making events.

This decision comes as no surprise to those involved in organising the event, last year the police demanded payment in the hundreds of thousands for policing the event. Thats right folks! Despite no one asking them to attend, and many criticising them for creating a hostile atmosphere, the coppers demanded payment for policing the event or they would do every thing they could to stop it going ahead. A successful campaign was launched last year against these Mafioso tactics and the fayre went ahead but the pigs had it in for the fayre.

This year the police decided that they didn’t have the resources to police the fair, again no one asked them too, so called upon the council to ban it. To their credit the cambridge city council chucked the veto out on it’s arse. But the police were not to be beaten so easily. They began a campaign of intimidation against the organisers, and tied the organisers up in appeals and paperwork.

The overwealming feeling has been that of disgust at the police action and the class boundries have been drawn very clearly. As one of the cities few free events it is the faovurite event in the social calendar of the working class in cambridge, free music cheap beer lots of cool stalls and a chance to just chill out on the common, but the middle classes have applauded the decision claiming “It’s about time! Lets keep cambridge looking clean, and maybe it’ll encourage some of those wasters to get a job!”  http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Strawberry-Fair-cancelled.htm

The organisers have taken the sad decision to cancel the fayre. But the people are up in arms. A facebook group has been set up and now nearly 20,000 people have said they are going to turn up anyway. This could be the biggest kick off in local Cambridge history. Cambridge Anarchists and Class War Cambridgeshire invite all those who believe that the working class has as much right to a good day out as the rich and their pet police men to come down and join us on the first saturday of june. Big your family, picnics and music.

NO CONTROL!

ACAB

Link to article on Cambridge Anarchists website:
 http://cambridgeanarchists.wordpress.com/2010/03/25/strawberry-fayre-fight-back/