Tagged: Bookfair
Never Mind the Ballots: Eight Upcoming Radical Protests & Events
While most eyes seemed to be focused solely on the election and our political ‘leaders’, there are a lot of other events coming up to keep the anarchists and radicals of Bristol (and beyond) busy. Some of these are being organised by us, some by our friends and comrades. Others are just ones we’re going to and you should do everything you can to support or attend as well. Whatever your view on the election, make sure it doesn’t get in the way of the real politics!
Upcoming Events:
Dorset Radical Bookfair
Saturday 3rd June
10:30–23:00
Portfield Community Hall
Dorset’s first ever Radical Bookfair is happening this Saturday! There will be stalls, talks covering a range of topics (including two from us on ‘Capitalism, Anarchism & Mental Health’ and ‘Revolutionary Women’), and films on anarchism, rebellion, and the revolution. And it’s free entry!
To find out more, check out their Facebook event.
Hartcliffe Protest! Re-open the Rent Offices!
Saturday 3rd June
11:00-12:00
Symes House
Come on down to Hartcliff on Saturday to stand with residents as they protest the cuts their community has had to face and the closure of council facilities at Symes House. These are cuts we’re facing all over the city, so even if you don’t live in Hartcliff, go on down and show your support. Facebook event.
Anti-Workfare Street Party, Student Action, and more events in December
How to survive the cold nights, dark days, and endless parade of twee consumerism of December? Well, this list of inspiring actions and events might help keep your spirits warm.
Bristol Anarchist Bookfair just around the corner!
The 6th annual Bristol Anarchist Bookfair will take place on Saturday 26th April at the Trinity Centre from 11:00AM. Bristol Anarchist Federation will once again have a presence at this year’s bookfair.
As well as our usual stall, where we will have copies of the latest issue of Organise! along with a selection of our pamphlets and other propaganda (hopefully including the new edition of Role of the Revolutionary Organisation hot off the press!), we will be involved in two workshops throughout the day.
The first workshop starting at 12:30PM in the Bookfair Assembly Room on the first floor is called: “Is Bart Simpson an Anarchist?” and hopes to answer some important questions raised by this year’s poster design:
We felt some of Bart Simpson’s calculations on this year’s bookfair poster were at best debatable and at worst problematic. Does Work minus Bosses, or Money minus Bankers really equal anarchy? What do we mean by the term “Work” anyway? And can money really have a role in an Anarchist society?
We’ll also be taking part in the “Solidarity in Bristol” workshop directly after that at 2:00PM with Bristol Solidarity Network, Acorn Bristol, IWW, Bristol SolFed, and Bristol Refugee Rights:
Solidarity is a central idea which we organise round but how does it work in practice – especially across social and political differences? People actively showing solidarity with workers, migrants, claimants, and local and international struggles discuss what has been productive and challenging in their solidarity work.
Members of Bristol Anarchist Federation will be stationed at our stall throughout the day so if you have any questions or just want a chat come and say Hello!
Don’t forget the Bookfair Afterparty this year taking place at The Red Lion in St. George. Confirmed acts so far include Hazel Winter, Public Order Act, MC Amalgam, QELD and Ash Victim. The festivities start at 8:00PM and all proceeds go towards the Bristol Anarchist Bookfair Collective to help them do the same thing again next year!
We hope to see you all there!
The Revolution Starts in Swindon
The Radical Bookfair was organised by Swindon Trades Council
We may have been exaggerating a little with the title, but yesterday was a step in the right direction. Members of Bristol AFed visited our groups most popular destination (yes, it really is) to take part in the first ever Swindon Radical Bookfair. It was a great opportunity for radicals from the town and the wider region to meet up and share information and a chance for other Swindon locals to get involved and find out about their cities radical past, present and (fingers crossed) future.
“Creating A New World In The Shell Of The Old” – Report Back from Sheffield Anarchist Bookfair 2013
The 4th annual Sheffield Anarchist Bookfair took place last Saturday 11th May at the Showroom Workstation. A member of Bristol AFed went to the Bookfair as part of the Kebele Social Centre/Infoshop Collective. This is their personal account of the day:
After a slow start to the day – waking up at 4am and being stuck on the side of the motorway until 9am – we finally arrived at the Sheffield Anarchist Bookfair at around midday. We set up our stall next to Bristol Against Arms Trade (BAAT) and were happy to find ourselves nestled between comrades from Collective Action and The Commune with The Cowley Club Social Centre (from Brighton) and Sheffield IWW opposite us.
Once we’d finished setting up I took some time to look around the other stalls. There were at least 28 stalls at this year’s Anarchist Bookfair. Despite this the Bookfair gave off the impression of a bustling and active movement with lots of people walking between stalls and talking to eachother. This really felt like a local Bookfair and I loved it.
Anarchists Blocked from Speaking at Mayday Rally
K: “Guess what? The south west TUC are actually organising a big event for Mayday this year.”
B: “…Really.”
K: “I bet you can’t guess exactly what that are going to do?”
B: “Oh a challenge huh? Well, they will not do it on May day, it will be on the following Saturday. There will be an A to B march from City Hall at …11.00 am?! It will finish in Castle Park for a Rally at the band stand.”
K: “Ha, yes, exactly that! Also I’ve managed to find out where the next organising meeting for the march is. They’ve invited a few groups along, maybe our invite got lost in the post, lucky we found out about it huh?”
So we decided to pop along to the meeting to see if we could have some say on the plans for May Day. Last year we were involved in a group organising (and encouraging others to organise) a week of action based around Mayday including a march and rally hosted by BADACA. We thought we would see how plans were panning out for this years May Day celebrations, expecting a large public meeting (last year had 30+ people at the ‘first of may group’ meetings) we instead found ourselves in some sort of steering committee, Continue reading
Bookfair Survivors Fry-up
Whether this Sunday you will be recovering from the after party or relaxing with a good book or pamphlet you purchased at the bookfair let Bristol Anarchist Federation take care of the Food & Drink for you.
From midday Kebele Social Centre on Robertson Road, Easton will be open for a big ol’ greasy vegan fry up with more tea and coffee than you can shake a radical news sheet at.
Brunch will be served from 12pm till 2.00pm when we will hand over to another set of volunteers to prepare your dinner, served from 6.30pm onwards.
Proceeds from the Fry-up will be split between Bristol AFed and Kebele.
A wise old woman once said “If I can’t sit around all day doing nothing while people cook food for me and bring me hot cups of coffee, it’s not my revolution.”
She wasn’t wrong, see you there!!!
From the Bookshelves to the Barricades
Don’t miss out on all the fun down at Bristol Anarchist Bookfair on Saturday, it’s gonna be a riot! (not literally of course – Ed)
The event takes place in Hamilton house on the now infamous Stokes Croft. With three floors, 60 stalls and a workshop shedule to put London Bookfair to shame, reading up is the new kicking off in Bristol This Saturday.
Continue reading
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