Glastonbury Festival 2011

1 July 2011

There was a good presence of Stop Hinkley at Glastonbury Festival this year (22-26 June 2011). Six members joined forces with other anti-nuclear groups, coordinated by the Aldermaston Women, and based in the Green Futures Field, where the stall was able to spill out among young trees, and was clearly recognisable by large 'No to Nuclear Power' and 'Remember Fukushima' flags. In the event everyone worked hard campaigning for Stop Hinkley as this issue is now seen as more immediate. Next door in the Croissant Neuf Field there were also 'No to Nuclear Power' flags flying high on large poles.

Green MP & Stop Hinkley patron Caroline Lucas speaking on the Pyramid stage

Overall, the campaign was better represented at this year's Festival. There was a mention in the official programme and a short film sponsored by Greenpeace and Stop Hinkley was shown on the Pyramid stage between acts. Green MP Caroline Lucas (Stop Hinkley patron), speaking on the Pyramid stage, encouraged people to go to Hinkley next year to demonstrate on the last weekend in June as there would be no Glastonbury Festival.

	Flags now available from Stop Hinkley HERE

In spite of the mud and rain everyone had a good time. Over a thousand signatures for the petition were collected and many very interesting discussions with festival goers. It became apparent that there is great interest in attending the peaceful, non-violent blockade of Hinkley on 3 October.

Sue Aubrey

Stop Hinkley at Glastonbury Music Fesitval 2010 Stop Hinkley supporter, Sue Aubrey, made a splendid banner with the message 'Blow Nuclear Away' which was featured on the large wall of banners that is now a Glastonbury tradition. The Stop Hinkley stall was easy to find in the Green Fields, standing out with the yellow 'SAY NO TO HINKLEY C' banner. The stall was ideally situated with a little garden in the front where children were playing with 3 eyed fish (from the Simpsons!). Our team of 10, assisted by additional volunteers, worked hard in the extreme heat and collected nearly 2,800 signatures on the petition. 138 festival goers also completed cards to be sent to Chris Huhne, calling on the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change to adhere to government's commitment of no financial subsidies for the nuclear industry. Overwhelmingly, we felt it was worth all the effort as an awareness-raising exercise. We had lengthy discussions with people of all ages who held a wide variety of views, which gave us the opportunity to counter the pro-nuclear lobby's propaganda.