A little late, but I thouht I might as well post a link to a BBC piece by David Sillito about the new face of protest.
In the end I got up late on Mayday but I went to London anyway and had a nice afternoon in Kennington Park.
Meanwhile there were clashes in Los Angeles between police and marchers calling for greater rights for immigrants. Police claimed that trouble was started by agitators throwing rocks and bottles at officers, but there doesn't seem to be any evidence of this. An inquiry has lead to the demotion of the senior officer present and the reassigning of about sixty riot cops.
It seems there will be a Mayday party at RampART from 8pm to midnight, featuring DJ Rubbish and others.
There is a little more information about the Space Hijackers event in this Indymedia posting. Apparently it will kick off at 5pm but location won't be made public until the day before Mayday.
Mayday this year falls on a Tuesday so it is a work day for many (the bank holiday is the following Monday). I will be taking time off to head into London as usual. Last year I joined a Critical Mass bike ride and took a soundsystem to a fancy dress party outside the Bank of England where people were dressed up as cops - I wrote about it here.
So what about this year? Well there might well be another Critical Mass, probably gathering at the normal CM meeting point under the Waterloo Bridge on the South Bank at around noon. I guess I will head down there and see if anyone else is up for a ride.
LMDOC have (as usual) organised a march which will be assembling at Clerkenwell Green also at noon, and moving off at 1pm to head to Trafalgar Square. If I were to join the march I am sure I would naturally gravitate towards the Autonomous Workers Block.
A more interesting option is being planned by people at the Camberwell Squatted Centre. They are inviting people to join a procession from the squat at 2pm for a picnic/mini-festival in Kennington Park (formerly Kennington Common) starting at 3pm. Hopefully there will be a maypole to dance around and people are encourage to wear fancy dress and to bring musical instruments and food and drink to share. If I am cycling I will most likely end up at the park sometime in the afternoon.
The Space Hijackers (who organised the Bank of England party) last year are also planning something for this year. Full details have not been made public yet but it will involve a party "right in the heart of the Corporate Financial Centres of London". It will also involve participants disguising themselves as city workers. I don't fancy wearing a suit on my bike or to go to the Kennington Park do, and I don't fell like lugging one round with me all day either, so even if it happens later in the afternoon I don't think I will be involved. However, judging by the Hijackers' previous events it should be a good one - if you are interested then keep an eye on their Mayday 2007 - Suited and Booted page.
I have also got stuff to do during the weekend immediately preceeding Mayday. Friday 27th April is the 13th anniversary London Critical Mass, gathering under Waterloo Bridge at 6pm, where I expect to meet fellow Bicycologists in town for a weekend meeting. On the Saturday I might go to the Diasarm DSEi meeting in room 3C at ULU from 2pm-4pm before returning to the Bicycology meeting. Sunday will not be a day of rest either - some people I know will be setting off from London to cycle to the G8 Summit in Germany (and two of them are planning to carry on after that till they reach New Zealand!) - I will probably end up riding at least a few miles with them to see them on their way.
Well that is all I can think of now. If I hear about any more interesting London Mayday events in the next few days I will update this page.
www.zenatode.org.uk Ian Gregory 2010