Sufiyan, 26, Aaron, 26

Sufiyan: For the last year, it’s been really hard feeling quite alone in resisting fascism. It felt like quite a small movement at times, so it felt important to nourish my spirit of resistance by coming out to the march itself, and then coming here afterwards to have some fun with it.

Music is the universal language. Nothing communicates better across a large crowd than music. No speech is as transferable. 

Aaron: Anti-fascism is for lovers. There is no love without anti-fascism. It’s nice to see loads of different people coming out. I think saying, “Come dance with us after you’ve all stood on the streets against the rise of the right” is actually really fun, and a great tactic too. It shows that we’re everywhere, and that there are so many of us. It is the majority of people.

We’re here dancing. You can come join us when you’re ready. Stop being so sad and boring and come shake your ass. I think that’s a really important message.

Laura, 28, Nik, 28

Laura: It is really nice to see people come together and remind yourself that most people are actually on your side against racism and against the racist rhetoric being peddled by our current government. I think it’s good to demonstrate because this gets picked up by the media and reported in the news, showing that a lot of people stand against racism.

Sometimes the news can be quite negative. The current situation in the UK is quite negative. But when people have music to gather around, it creates a sense of togetherness.

Nik: I want to be part of this. I believe in community, and I stand against the racism that is being pushed right now by certain people and certain groups. I want to stand against that and be part of this.

Paul, 65

I haven’t actually been to a demonstration for a long time. I used to go on them a lot, and I felt like it was important to come out again. I love raving, so it’s been good to be here and see so many people. The atmosphere has been absolutely beautiful, and that’s really why I came down: for that sense of togetherness, and because I love to dance.

Christian, 37, Nicole, 34

Christian: The last couple of years have been really isolating for a lot of us. There’s been so much hopelessness around transphobia, homophobia, racism and just general fuckery.

For the younger generation, especially, a lot of people have grown up through Covid and maybe haven’t had as much opportunity to engage politically or know where to start. I’ve always found that music events are a key way of connecting with like-minded people.

Nicole: I just think it’s really important, considering what’s happening in the world at the moment, that we as a city come together. We do that really well when it comes to marches and protests, but they’re often so politically charged and have so much police attention. 

To have something rooted in joy, togetherness, music and culture – literally what this city is about – allows us to protest, make a statement and make noise in a different way. And when this city makes noise, on a beautiful day like today, how can you beat it?

Gabriele, 32, Hannah, 32, Leen, 30, Irene, 32

Irene: I came here today because I feel like, as an artist, you should always represent what’s happening and support the cause. It’s almost your responsibility. And what better way to protest against war, and against the disgusting crimes that are happening right now, than with music, dancing together and sharing love?

Leen: I came here today because I think it’s important to exercise our right to revolt and to protest. We live in a free city, and we have the opportunity to do these things, while in so many other countries, people aren’t able to. It was really beautiful to see the turnout today.

Romaine, 44

I came here because ignorance is not bliss, and we need to speak up. I’m so fed up with the apathy in the world, and with people acting like there’s nothing they can do.

When you look at the voices spreading racism and hatred, they are a minority. Unity and love are the real majority. That’s what I love about something like today: there are hundreds of thousands of people here.

Rowan, 19, Aurora, 19, Molly, 18

Rowan: Everything is so tied to social media now. Everything is about what kind of thing you represent, rather than something more genuine. Being able to be in the moment with everyone – seeing different faces, different ways of dressing, different lives – is really beautiful.

Aurora: When everyone is in the same place for a reason, it takes away that barrier. People can be quite antisocial towards others they don’t feel they have things in common with, but something like this takes that away. Everyone’s here because they believe in the same things, and they love music.

Solomon, 32, Millie, 24, Kocha, 27

Solomon: Today felt like an amazing opportunity to merge culture and politics, and to reach people who might be more centrist or unsure about who to support.

I think it’s such a stark contrast to the kind of protest being promoted elsewhere, because today feels more like a celebration of the nuances of being British. That’s why I think it’s so important, and why I’ve been telling everyone – my friends, anyone I can – to come down today. I think the representation of so many different kinds of people is where the impact really lies.