The Greater London Council -CND Peace festivals 1983

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Greater London Council Peace Festivals .

Pauline Black and Friends 8-6-83

All photos © Steve Makin

May- August 1983.

Three Festivals were held in 1983 under the umbrella of the Greater London Council at Victoria Park Hackney to celebrate their self proclaimed ' Peace Year ". One other event- "Blues in the Bowl " was held at Crystal Palace.

Victoria Park, Hackney :May 1st 1983.

Festival Welfare Sevices Report

Despite bad weather, this event went very well and was enjoyed by a large crowd, estimated at around 20,000 people. Many events took place inside marquees giving shelter from the weather, in addition to the wide variety of side-shows, theatre groups, amusements and performers appearing around the site and on the several stages. FWS was asked to co-ordinate the welfare services at the festival. St John Ambulance provided first aid cover; Festival Aid provided a "quiet tent' and counselling service and FWS volunteers ran the Information Point and Lost Kids tent.Although the welfare groups were very busy during the day there were no serious casualties or problems to deal with and the atmosphere at the festival was very pleasant. The GLC had provided site plans and a programme of events, which was extremely useful and appreciated by people wanting to know what was happening and where.

Tibetan Ukranian Mountain Troupe vehicles The Ting and The Beast lurk behind unsuspecting attendees at the GLC May Day concert 1983

© P Mellor

At the Information Tent, the only missing piece of information which would have been useful was a site plan showing where all the different traders were located, as It was quite difficult to find a particular stand.FWS volunteers looked after lost children during the day and happily all were reunited with parents etc without too much delay. Volunteers were assisted by security staff at the stages when messages regarding lost children needed to be broadcast.

There was a wide variety of food, covering many different tastes, and a beer tent. It was somewhat difficult to find drinking water, except in the toilet units, and If it had been a hot day, this could have caused problems. There were adequate toilet units provided near the main stage, although at some distance from the centre of activities and not very well sign-posted. These units were kept very clean by attendants, but some complaints were received about the condition of the Gents toilets near the bandstand, which flooded during the afternoon.

There was unfortunately a lot of litter deposited on the ground, which became embedded in the mud. Skips were provided around the site, clearly marked for bottles or cans, but these did not seem to have been used very much. It would certainly have been a good idea to have had smaller rubbish receptacles around the site, especially close to the food vendors.For future events we make the following recommendations :

That the performance marquees have much wider exits - several complaints were received about the narrowness of exits from the marquees and there could have been serious problems had people needed to leave in'a hurry; that the information point has a plan showing locations of traders and stalls as well as performing areas.
That small litter bins be porovided around the site.
That the toilets have large sign posts or arrows pointing to them for the beneift of people unfamiliar with the park.

The event ended successfully with a spectacular fire work display and seemed to have been thoroughly enjoyed by paricipants and audiences.

Penny Mellor

Festival For Peace

CND Rally .Brockwell Park :May 7th 1983.

Madness, The Damned ,Hazel O'Conner , Style Council .

70.000 march from the Victoria Embankment to the park in wet weather . Style Councils set is reportedly somewhat shambolic and they are pelted with mud by elements in the crowd who expected to get value for the money they did not have to shell out ........

Setlists and recordings

Style Council

Speak Like a Child.
Money go Round

Madness

House Of Fun
Disappear
Bed and Breakfast Man
My Girl
The Sun and The Rain
Embarrassment
Blue Skinned Beast
Rise and Fall
Tomorrow's Dream
Tomorrow's Just Another Day
Grey Day
Shut Up
Madness
Baggy Trousers
Our House
encore:It Must Be Love

The Damned

Neat Neat Neat
Disco Man
Wait For The Blackout
Ignite
Born To Kill
Limit Club
Love Song
Smash It Up
Noise Noise Noise
Stranger on the Town.

Not known if either of these exist as recordings

More information is needed about this event- bands,weather,etc

Victoria Park, Hackney :June 4th 1983.

Information is needed about this event- bands,weather,etc

Hiroshima Day Peace Festival

Victoria Park .Hackney

London. E9

Saturday August 6th 1983 .

Joboxers, Orange Juice ,Pauline Black ,Carol Grimes and the Crocodiles,The Guest Stars , The Lost Jockey , Spartacus R , Lydia D'ust Byn Swing Orchestra , Fallout Marching Band , Orchestre Jazira , The Lost Loved Ones.

All photos © Steve Makin

The Samaritans

We attended three separate one day festivals in London parks, organised by the GLC. The lively music, coupled with the beautiful weather, attracted large, colourful crowds on two occasions . One was a much smaller event but each had a relaxed, happy atmosphere. Even such a happy crowd contains some people who need to talk to us; so for them, and for the numerous contacts we made, it was important for the Samaritans to be there.