LOVE NOT RIOTS CAMPAIGN (By Ben Shafran)

We spoke to Zena Garnder, head of the Love Not Riots campaign to keep our festival free of mindless violence and the Sunday night riots that have become unfortunately too common.

How did the Love Not Riots campaign start?

It started on the efestivals website. There were a few people from last year that had been talking about the problems and if there is anything that they could do together. I just posted on there and suggested badges, and a few people said it’d be a good idea. After that point no-one had actually taken it any further, so I just did it. I got in touch with some bands on MySpace and some of us got back to us, and then [Mean Fiddler managing director] Melvin Benn heard about it and got in touch with me. We went down to see him and he said that he would basically fund the badges, and the rest is history really… It took off from there.

Was it difficult to get people to support the campaign at the beginning?

Not on the forums it wasn’t. But we didn’t have a very good response from the bands, so it’s mainly been the smaller bands that have replied. But it terms of festival goers - that took off straight away. People were just really keen to get involved and help out, so that wasn’t a problem.

Tell us a little about the support and coverage that you’ve had so far?

We’ve been in the NME. We have a page on the Reading [Festival] section of the BBC Berkshire website. We’re going into the Faversham Times I think next week. We’re on quite a lot of the festival websites. We’ve got a ‘Make Poverty History’-style banner [as debuted on this site!].

What’s planned for the festival weekend in terms of the campaign?

There’s going to be a stall at both festivals, selling the [Love Not Riots] t-shirts and vest tops, which is being manned by a steward provided by Mean Fiddler. NME are having lots of badges at the Signing Tent to hand out. We’re got loads of people at both festivals that are going to be handing badges out at the campsite. And there will be some bands wearing the badges as well. The Reading Welfare Point people will be wearing badges. I think the Carling [Beer] Amnesty tent said they’ll be wearing badges. We’ve also teamed up with a guy doing the Global Aid tent recycling thing. Everyone’s been really keen to get involved.

Do you not think it’s possible that people wearing the Love Not Riots shirts and badges will become targets for abuse or violence?

I really don’t believe that any festival goers intentionally injure fellow festival fans. The problem is that people get injured as a by-product of other people’s lack of consideration and common sense. So I don’t believe that festival goers supporting the campaign will be at any more risk than in previous years.

What about the possibility that, in aid of Love Not Riots, some people will become vigilantes and try to break up trouble themselves?

I’ve already maintained that people shouldn’t get involved. If there’s something like that, there are people paid to do that job, and that’s not what this campaign is. This is a campaign to raise awareness and bring people together. It’s not about people going in and starting fights with people that are causing trouble or anything like that. If there’s been any talk of that on any website, I’ve always stepped in and said “that’s not what it’s about”. You know, we’re doing it in a peaceful, non-confrontational way. So hopefully people will listen and do the right thing and tell the people that are paid to sort it out.

Where do you draw the line between good, dirty festival fun and a “riot”?

We’re not being the Fun Police, and we’re not trying to stop people doing anything, because that would ruin the atmosphere in completely the opposite way. You just have to draw the line as to where it’s fun and where inevitable risk come in. It is difficult, but people just have to use a bit of common sense really. There’s a difference between running a trolley down the pathway when there’s nobody about, and throwing a gas canister when everyone’s crowded around a fire.

What would you consider a successful campaign?

If one prospective rioter said “Well, you know, after what I heard happened last time I’m not gonna do it this year” then I think it would have worked. But we don’t expect everyone to sit down on Sunday night and start signing around the campfire and there to be no trouble whatsoever. That’s just not what’s going to happen. There are always going to be people who want to do it. But even if one person says “I’m not gonna chuck that on the fire because that is actually dangerous” then I think this year we’ve done what we aimed to do.

Is there a long-term plan for the campaign or is it just for this year?

Obviously we’d like to come back next year. We hope that if we get feedback and suggestions from people after this year’s campaign Mean Fiddler will ask us back to maybe be the voice of festival goers so that they could integrate people in what happens. Because at the end of the day it’s us that pay for the tickets and if there are good ideas out there that could be used then I think we should have the opportunity to put them forward. So hopefully, if it goes well and we come back next year, we might have a bit more say in how things are tackled. But we have to wait and see how it goes this year.

Finally, on a personal note, what are you most looking forward to about the festival?

I’m looking forward to The Kooks and The Automatic, and I’m looking forward to Pearl Jam, and just the whole thing in general really. It is a good atmosphere there. It is a brilliant place to be. And it’s just a shame that a few people spoil it. Because it is only a minority.