Gathering in Festival Square, Edinburgh's financial district in the West End.
Gathering in Bristo Square, near Edinburgh University.
Police outside McEwan lecture hall, Bristo Square.
Marching down Bristo Place towards Royal Mile.
Sit down at junction of Royal Mile, George IV Bridge and Bank Street.
Paul (left) and Stephen by the sit down protest on the Royal Mile.
Sit down at the junction of the Royal Mile, North and South Bridges.
`Take back the streets!` at the junction of Jeffrey Street and the Royal Mile.
There was a `Take back the streets` protest in Edinburgh today. The protest, which began at 12 noon, had two starting points at Festival Square in the financial district of the West End and at Bristo Square near Edinburgh University.
One of the protestors’ grievances is that the Edinburgh Festival is a festival for the rich where the poor, working class and homeless are pushed out of the way and even in the case of the homeless people, pushed out of the city altogether. During the fringe festival rents go through the roof making it even more difficult for those on a low income to find somewhere to live. “Festivity should be all inclusive, a person’s pleasure and happiness should not depend on their fucking bank account!” as one of the flyers put it. From the website: “It's time to take back the streets of our city from the cars that have been swamping our streets, killing thousands of people every year and destroying our environment for far too long.”
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The event started a little slowly but by one o’clock the several dozen in Festival Square marched to Bristo Square along Johnston Terrace at the back of the castle. The fairly sizeable police presence brought up the rear. The two groups of demonstrators merged in the square normally frequented by skateboarders and shortly afterwards went on a march towards the Royal Mile. The protestors numbered around a hundred as they marched down Bristo Place to George IV Bridge. Blowing whistles and carrying black flags they shouted “Whose streets? Our Streets!” and “People not cars!”
A little after 1 o’clock they reached the junction of George IV Bridge and Lawnmarket where a 10-minute sit down was held. There were two further sit downs at the junction of North Bridge and the High Street and at the end of the Royal Mile at Holyrood House, the Queen’s official Scottish residence.
The march then went back up the Royal Mile to New Street where they turned right and then went up East Market Street and Market Street to the Waverley Stairs where they climbed up to the North Bridge around 2.40pm.
The event seemed to pass off peacefully and I saw no arrests. 10 photos are attached.
Comments
Hide the following 5 comments
further info and discussion
02.08.2004 11:12
although i had fun during the party i'm wondering what we really achieved. i don't know how many people understood what we where protesting against as there was no banner and no flyers explaining what we were doing. we certainly pissed a lot of people off, but i think we also entertained some. don't know if this is a very effective way of creating an opposition against cars in the city. but maybe that's not even the aim, maybe it's just about having some fun and creating a bit of chaos? i don't know, i'm personally not interested in reclaiming the streets. i don't want them, i want to see them destroyed.
but anyway, i had a good time. maybe i shouldn't analyse it so much?
bamse
reclaim the streets
02.08.2004 13:12
I agree that to put an understandable message out to the observing public is an important issue in such actions - a banner saying "Reclaim Da Streets" might have been good but I didn't take one, so i have no reason to gripe. I saw a flyer describing the reasons for the action, more of those would have good, they were very well writen.
I also feel that the sticker advertizing campaign was perhaps very inclusive but enough people came and we had a party on the streets. - yes "people not cars!"
fB
fB
Homepage:
http://www.fruityblue.net
reclaim the streets
02.08.2004 13:22
I agree that to put an understandable message out to the observing public is an important issue in such actions - a banner saying "Reclaim Da Streets" might have been good but I didn't take one, so i have no reason to gripe. I saw a flyer describing the reasons for the action, more of those would have good, they were very well writen.
I also feel that the sticker advertizing campaign was perhaps very inclusive but enough people came and we had a party on the streets. - yes "people not cars!"
fB
fB
Homepage:
http://www.fruityblue.net
bamse
03.08.2004 10:06
the issues are probably too complicated to say any more than that without writing a whole essay, but my own personal inclination is that the marxists, for all their massive faults, have a very good point: that we need to find some kind of agent within society to help realise our ideals, someone within capitalism - be it the working class, or the multitude, or whatever. just standing around stopping the traffic doesn't really hook up with people in this way at all; it just pisses them off.
anyway, that's what i think...
Ben
stop moaning
03.08.2004 22:25
HAB