Anti-racism music festival moves to Finsbury Park

The anti-racism music festival, 'Rise: London United', which going to take place on Clapham Common in South London on Sunday July 15, will now take place in Finsbury Park, North London.

The decision to the change the venue was taken in order to ensure the scale and range of activities at Europe's largest anti-racist festival could be maintained.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone said: "Although we wanted Clapham Common to host this year's Rise: London United, it would have been necessary to reduce the number of stages and the event would have been smaller.

"I hope we can stage the festival on Clapham Common in the future. In the meantime, in a period when even greater numbers need to show they are opposed to racism, I would like to invite people living in south London, as well as across London to come Finsbury Park on 15 July, to reinforce the message that all Londoners stand together and will not accept racism in the most diverse city in the world."

Cllr Lib Peck, Cabinet member for environment and culture on Lambeth Council, said: "We fully endorse the Rise festival and while it is a shame that it’s not possible to hold it in Lambeth this year, the council supports the decision to move it to Finsbury Park.

"It became clear that the festival was too large to be held safely on Clapham Common without scaling it down, so the decision to move it was sensible and the right one.

"I hope as many people as possible from Lambeth will still attend the festival to show, as Londoners, their support for harmony and diversity and abhorrence of racism in all its forms."

Rise: London United is a free event backed by the Mayor of London, Trades Union Congress, National Assembly Against Racism and diverse community organisations.

This year's festival will feature a wide range of music, performance and other activities. Past performers include De La Soul, Graham Coxon, Common, Buzzcocks, Roy Ayers, Sway and the Wailers, with stages featuring African, Asian and Cuban music, Dub and hip hop DJs, comedy acts and the annual Poetry Slam organised in conjunction with the Poetry Society.

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