The day the Carnival came to Town by George Arthur                

The Barnsley LMHR Carnival took place on Saturday May 1st. It was a fantastic success. About 5000 tickets were sold making it the largest music event held in Barnsley and the largest anti-racist event the town has seen. The bands that played represented a cross section of top performers from a variety of music genres.   The mood at the Carnival was very positive and the crowd was well disciplined and well behaved. In spite of rain for most of the time and the headline band, UB40, announcing at the last minute that illness stopped them appearing, the event was full of fun and a very strong anti-racist message dominated. In between the bands playing there were speeches. The best speech of the day was by NUT Deputy General Secretary Kevin Courtney. Kevin spoke with great fire and eloquence about the need to stop racist ideas spreading and the need to stop the BNP gaining a foothold in British politics.   The character of the town through the whole day was very encouraging and upbeat. The day started with the Trades Council May Day march and Rally. This was followed by four hours of a Folk against Fascism open air concert in Peel Square. Pubs and clubs across the town carried huge banners proclaiming their support for Love Music Hate Racism and naming bands that were playing at 20 different events after the Carnival.   Large numbers of LMHR t-shirts and badges were sold and were worn around the town which showed that the majority of people in Barnsley actively support that message.   As part of the build up to the Carnival LMHR was invited into several secondary schools to deliver assemblies or to take part in anti-racist / multicultural days. Competitions were organised at some of those schools with free tickets to the Carnival as prizes. Students at Kirk Balk school and Darfield school produced banners which were displayed on the fences at the Carnival.   LMHR is keen to work with schools in Barnsley to help promote an anti racist message. If you want further information then email garthu@gmail.com. Teachers and students may be interested in the LMHR "Battle of the Bands" which is being held at the Civic in Barnsley on Saturday July 3rd.   Nationally and locally the NUT has supported LMHR as part of its commitment to supporting cultural cohesion and combating racist ideas.