Extinction Rebellion Water Festival in Luton to celebrate the River Lea, each other and community
England came together in Luton town centre, Bedfordshire at around 10am. They amasses in St George’s Square with drums, props and banners reading slogans such as ‘Love your River’ ‘Help the River!’ and ‘Nature is Nurture’. At 11am the group, accompanied by a Samba Band: ‘XR Rhythms’, marched through Luton town centre to Wardown Park. Along the way members of the public stopped to beep their car horns in support, listen to the Samba band and admire the colourful, fun water-themed props with many commenting their delight of seeing the band in Luton. ‘Good on you for doing something nice. Well done for organising this, we need this’ one man said. When asked why they organised the event one activist said: ‘As activists we are always focusing on pointing the finger and getting angry – as much as there is a place for that we wanted to do something for ourselves and the communities we have to’.
The River Lea is one of only 200 or so Chalk Streams in the world. Chalk Streams are a rare and delicate eco system, with the majority of these habitat types being in England. The ecosystems are heralded as the UK’s version of the Amazon Rainforest, in regards to their importance. When in the park once concerned member of the public said: 'The water level has been so low this year, I haven’t seen any dragonflies I am glad someone is out here talking about this’. Extinction Rebellion chose Luton and the River Lea for the site of the Festival due to the beautiful venue of Wardown park next to the Chalk Stream of the River Lea. One co-ordinator said: ‘Protecting nature starts with having experiences with it and loving it, that is exactly what we did here today with the Water Festival. We banged our drums and brought colour, sound and life to the River Lea’.
Once the group arrived at Wardown Park, one of Luton’s largest, they then set up shop for the Festival events. These included collaboration with other groups and individuals such as: a River-blessing ceremony from Sacred Earth, water testing from local scientists, drumming and Tai Chi workshops, stalls from Friends of the Earth and local performers and speakers including Conservationist Dr Charlie Gardener and the Cambridge Climate Choir. Extinction Rebellion also provided free kids crafts, snacks and art block printing as well as having a campaign stall of their own. While watching one preformer one rebel said: 'It is nice to do something for us, as activists. We so often burn out with the dire state of the world and what we see on the news – coming out to celebrate and be joyous has immense value to’.
The onus of the day was on celebration: of the River Lea, of all Rivers, of each other and the communities these groups have built. Whilst there were speakers and conversations about the dire state of Rivers and wildlife in England, there was a light energy of being together and celebration to the day that brought members of the public to engage in the workshops, talks and stalls. As the group passed through Luton, and once based at the park, members of the public made comments on how good it was to see something like this happening in Luton. One passer by commented ‘It's so good to see something like this in Luton!’. One mother at the free craff stall with her children said: 'This doesn’t happen very often in Luton, people being out, doing something, this should be made a yearly occurrence!’.
Exctinion Rebellion collaborates regionally to plan and co-orrdinate actions and events, chosen by the activists themselves each year across the East of England.